Since July last year, authorities of Phong Nam Commune in Soc Trang have called on money donations to help poor local households to build their houses. To date, the money has reached over VND1 billion (USD45,454). Of the sum, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The, former party secretary of Soc Trang Province contributed VND500 million (USD22,727) and VND50 million was from Hau Giang Lottery Company.

The commune has used VND100 million out of the total to build two houses for two households, while the remainder of VND1 billion has been deposited at a bank. The deposit has been divided into two savings books with the term of six months and three months. Interest on the savings books has already reached VND21 million (USD954.54).

Nguyen Huu Nghia in Phong Phu Village was among the households on the list to receive VND50 million for house construction, but he has not yet been provided with the money for the work.

Nguyen Van Duyen, party secretary of Phong Nam Commune, said that he had instructed the cashier to deposit the money and the interest would be used for the housing projects.

Duyen also added that it was necessary to complete different procedures for building a house, so to date, just two households have received the money from the project.