“Three lacks” and hundreds of tasks

The term “Three lacks” describes the situation in Sín Thầu commune: no official housing, no properly equipped offices, and no working supplies. Sín Thầu was newly formed by merging three communes, Sín Thầu, Sen Thượng, and Leng Su Sìn. It is now the largest commune in the province (over 516km2) and the farthest from the provincial center (more than 230km by road). With 21 villages, over 6,100 residents from four ethnic groups, and borders with Laos and China, officials face immense challenges in administration, public service delivery, and border security.

With infrastructure still lagging, nearly 100 officials, civil servants, and part-time staff work in makeshift conditions. The old commune headquarters and cultural center have been partitioned into seven cramped cubicles for over 50 staff. Meetings of over 25 attendees must be held in the school’s multi-purpose hall.

Employee accommodations are even more difficult. With no official housing available, over 60 staff commute 18 to 30 km daily from where they live. Dining tables and break areas are non-existent, lunch breaks often find staff napping inside their offices amid the heat.

Lưu Bá Thượng, from the commune Office, shared: “Our working conditions are truly difficult, hot and cramped. But my colleagues and I are determined to keep operations running smoothly so that residents don’t have to wait.”

Despite this, within just three weeks of operations, the Public Administrative Service Center in Sín Thầu received and processed nearly 60 administrative procedures, over 40 of which were handled online.

Shared facilities, shared hardship

Like Sín Thầu, Quảng Lâm commune, formed by merging Quảng Lâm and Na Cô Sa communes, faces similar struggles. Its headquarters is split across two sites: party and mass organizations plus the administrative center remain in the old commune office, while the People’s Committee works in repurposed classrooms. The offices remain overcrowded, with leaders ceding space so specialized teams can work. The borrowed venue lacks clean water, staff rely on spring water until two filters were recently installed.

More than half the staff were reassigned from the former districts of Nậm Pồ and Mường Nhé, as well as eventual Na Cô Sa commune, commuting 30-60 km daily. Only 7-8 staff can reside temporarily at the old health station; others rent nearby homes. Nguyễn Thị Bích Đào, an official in the Education-Culture-Social Affairs Division, lives 40 km away and shares a rented room with a colleague. “I only go home once a week to see my child. It’s hard, but we push on, for the people, for our responsibilities,” she shared.

Hope rising from hardship

The early days of two-level local government in highland border communes bring severe shortages in people, infrastructure, and facilities. Yet, thanks to dedication and public service spirit, these grassroots administrations are managing to maintain uninterrupted, stable governance.

Đặng Thành Huy, Secretary of the Sín Thầu commune Party Committee, emphasized that from the commune’s formation, editorial and leadership teams have shown unity and determination, overcoming hardships to operate effectively.

Across even the most remote border communes, officials are proving that effective governance is not a matter of infrastructure alone, but of dedication and resilience. The vision of a local government that is close to and serves its people better is taking shape, born from hardship on the Northwestern frontier of our nation.