Renaming neighborhoods and hamlets: Respecting and listening to people's opinions

Create a sense of closeness and ease of remembering

Ho Chi Minh City currently has 4,861 neighborhoods and hamlets. Continuing to perfect the two-level local government model, 168 communes, wards and special zones of Ho Chi Minh City are seeking opinions from voters representing households on the plan to rename neighborhoods and hamlets. The reason is that after the merger, the number of neighborhoods and hamlets in wards and communes has changed. Some neighborhoods and hamlets have the same name and the serial numbers are not continuous, causing difficulties in management and administrative lookup. The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Home Affairs has requested the People's Committees of communes, wards and special zones to complete the renaming of neighborhoods and hamlets before July 31 and report to the unit before August 5.

Binh Duong Ward (HCMC) neighborhood officials went to people's homes to distribute ballots to collect opinions on renaming the neighborhood.

Binh Duong Ward currently has 20 neighborhoods, of which 16 need to be renamed. Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong (Ward 2, old Phu My Ward) said: “The neighborhood where I live is expected to be renamed Cay Da. The name change is reasonable, because the ward currently has 20 neighborhoods, of which 3 or 4 are named Ward 1 or Ward 2. Naming the neighborhoods according to local geographical, historical or cultural characteristics such as Cay Da, Ham An, An My... creates a sense of closeness and ease of remembering, making us feel excited.”

In Vinh Tan Ward, Mr. Ho Minh Quan (old Ward 1) said that the ward has 2 Wards 1, 2 Wards 2 and 2 Wards 3. Wards with the same name can easily cause confusion in business activities, registering school addresses for children, etc. "Changing the name helps avoid duplication, makes it easy to read and remember, I fully support it", Mr. Tan expressed. Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ba, 80 years old, living in Ward 3, Phu Loi Ward, shared: "I have lived here since this land was a small hamlet, with a few sparse houses. The name of this ward is familiar, attached to the identity papers of my whole family; now changing to another name, I feel a bit regretful and nostalgic for the memories of my family and village. Changing the name is necessary, but the locality needs to consider cultural, historical and community factors so that naming the ward does not stray far from its roots".

Meanwhile, some residents in Thu Dau Mot Ward are concerned that the name change will cause related documents such as citizen identification cards, land use right certificates, birth certificates, business registration licenses, etc. to be inconsistent, resulting in additional procedures. Mr. Nguyen Van Loc, Thu Dau Mot Ward, is concerned: "I just registered my business, and now the neighborhood has notified me to seek opinions on changing the name of the new neighborhood. I am worried about whether I have to edit the address on the license and whether the tax declaration procedures will be complicated or not?"

Do not impose names, disrupt life

According to the People's Committees of communes and wards, changing the name of a neighborhood does not affect the legal value of the issued documents. Ms. Nguyen Thu Cuc, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairwoman of the People's Council of Thu Dau Mot Ward, said that people do not need to change their address information, unless they need to redo or update their records. The change of the neighborhood name will be updated in the National Population Database, Land Database, and Public Administration Management System.

The renaming of neighborhoods is being carried out strictly according to the instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Home Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, in order to ensure the consensus of the community, minimizing unnecessary disruptions in life and management. The consultation is taking place openly and transparently, with ballots asking for opinions from voters representing households in the correct order. "We always listen to feedback from the people. For neighborhoods that have not yet agreed on a new name, the ward will continue to collect opinions until a high consensus is reached," Ms. Nguyen Thu Cuc emphasized.

Ms. Tu Thi Anh Dao, Vice Chairwoman of Binh Duong Ward People's Committee, informed: "Binh Duong Ward was established on the basis of merging the entire natural area and population size of Hoa Phu, Phu My, Phu Tan, and Phu Chanh wards. After reviewing, the ward has 16 neighborhoods with duplicate names. To facilitate administrative management and improve the efficiency of the grassroots apparatus, Binh Duong Ward People's Committee has developed a plan to rename the neighborhoods.

The ward has sent 10,500 ballots to each household to collect the opinions of voters representing the household. In addition, the locality has posted them on the ward's electronic information page, fanpage, posted them at the People's Committee headquarters, community activity points and propagated and disseminated them to people in the neighborhood during the time of collecting opinions. Currently, the majority of people are in agreement, especially regarding the renaming of some neighborhoods to the old place names.

KIM HA

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/doi-ten-khu-pho-ap-ton-trong-lang-nghe-y-kien-nguoi-dan-post804240.html