Construction of a new bridge named Dan Tri will start on August 18, which will help to eliminate potential dangers for thousands of students in Hau Giang Province who cross the old bridge every day.

The deteriorated bridge poses dangers for thousands of students 

On August 14, Journalist Phan Huy, Head of Dan Tri/DTiNews’ representatives office in Can Tho City, spoke with authorities from Tan Phu Commune, Long My District, about the work.

After the article published on Dan Tri/DTiNews Newspaper about thousands of students going across the old bridge, named Xeo Co, every day, the Japanese Shinnyo-en Organisation donated over USD10,000 for the construction  of a new bridge.

This is the third bridge named Dan Tri in the Mekong Delta region, and the sixth one of its kind in Vietnam built as a result of Dan Tri/ DTiNews’ calls for donations.

No one, not even the old people in Tan Phu Commune, can remember exactly how old Xeo Co Bridge is. In 1992, local people contributed money to build six concrete pillars and then used wooden planks for the bridge surface.

Le Van Long, a local resident who has been the major contributor of labour in repairing the bridge said whenever students, or even their parents, lost their footing, and fell into the river, the commune People’s Committee would hold a meeting to talk about the construction of a concrete bridge. However, the plan eventually did come true even though the investment will be hundreds of millions of VND. They only had to wait for the approval of the budget at  higher levels of the bureaucracy.

The old bridge is just 25 meters long and one meter wide

Mai Nhat Lam from Long Hung 1 Village said he and his wife have lived in the village for four years, but they have jumped into the river to save people who fell from the bridge 15 times. Recently, two students from Grade 3 fell into the river, but luckily they were saved immediately.

Speaking with DTiNews reporter, Truong Van Minh, Party Vice-Secretary of Tan Phu Commune said, Tan Phu is a new commune separate from Long Phu Commune of Long My District, therefore, investment demand for infrastructure improvements is very big, but the budget is very limited. Five years after being established, the local People’s Committee is still headquartered in a prefabricated house. Therefore, the building of the new Xeo Co bridge is a dream come true for the locality which has waited for it for dozens of years.