A HCM City district that was thought to be relatively poor has sprung a surprise by announcing that it no longer has poor people.The Government has set the poverty threshold at VND12 million ($571) per year per capita, and District 6 has become the first district to get rid of poverty, leaving behind wealthy localities like Districts 1 and 3.In District 1 only one out of its 10 wards can claim this distinction, while in District 3 it is a more creditable 12 out of 14.Every year District 6 has been helping more than 1,000 families improve their income.Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper quoted Truong Van Luong, head of HCM City's Steering Committee for Poverty Reduction, as saying the speed of poverty reduction in District 6 has been rapid.Three years ago the district had some 4,500 families with 23,600 members with a per capita income of less than VND12 million, he said.But it vigorously implemented the Government's anti-poverty programs. More than 5,700 families got access to easy loans, as a total of VND88 billion ($4.1 million) was lent.More than 2,400 students also got loans totally worth VND15 billion.Trinh Thi Bo, 63, a local resident said she has managed to overcome her poverty. Last year she got a loan of VND30 million and helped her daughter open a fashion shop, which has been bringing a decent income for her family, she said.Luong said the district did better than others because of the commonality of purpose between the people and authorities to eliminate poverty.Nguyen Van Xe, deputy director of the city's Department of Labour, War Invalid and Social Affairs, hailed the district's achievement."District 6's achievement of the target two years ahead of schedule would motivate other districts to perform better," he added.Since 2009 the city has enabled around 86,000 people to rise above the poverty line.The city has nearly 66,400 households with 301,000 people living below the poverty line now, accounting for 3.64 per cent of the population. (Vietnam News Jan 7)
