Old and present Xa No Canal

Singing out for …. Cai Rang, Ba Lang, Vam Xang, Xa No
If you love me, buy me a ferry-boat
So that I can go back and forth. Singing out…. So that I can go back and forth to see if you accept my love.

It is unclear when the singing out and the Xa No honeyed canal runs and penetrates into the life, thought and sentiment of people in the Hau Giang waterways province. It is only learned that this over-100-year river is still endurable and young in looking after both banks full of vitality etc.

OLD AND PRESENT XA NO CANAL

Beginning:

Xa No canal is the first and big waterways work of the South and can be compared with the establishment of Sai Gon and My Tho railways. The Western technique has shown all its strength and efficiency.

The Xa No canal is 40 km long and linking the confluence of Can Tho arroyo to the confluence of Cai Nhut and going through Phong Dien district, Can Tho city and Chau Thanh A district, Vi Thuy district and Vi Thanh town of Hau Giang province.

According to the old people in these localities, the name “Xa No” was repeated incorrectly from Saint-Tanoir, the name of a French who managed clampshells to dig this river. But to writer Son Nam, the name “Xa No” originates in Sok Snor, a Khmer language which means sesbania sesban village. Writer Son Nam also said: “Because this is the biggest and longest dug river in the South, mechanical vehicles must be used to meet the profitable ambitious target quickly. The French knew, none better than anyone, that though this work was costly, it would bring extreme economic interest to the colonial State”. The history of breaking fresh ground in the South says: Xa No canal was completed in July 1903. The width of surface is 60 meters with the bottom of 40-metres width. Its expense was 3,680,000 francs. The clampshells operate by steam engines with iron clampshells. The engine of the clampshell was 350 horsepowers. Each clampshell could contain 375 liters and pumped mud to 60 meters far. The clampshell looked like man-of-war from a distance. Its engine sounded several km away. It carried staffs and labor force up to hundreds of people. They had to carry firewood along both banks for being ready to use because the boiler of clampshell burns a lot of firewood etc. French experts tally stood on the clampshell shouting and creaming as man-of-war commanders etc. The completed Xa No canal is 34 kms long in which 22 kms is in Rach gia province and runs from Can Tho through Bay Ngan market to the West sea in Rach Gia.

When the Xa No canal was completed in 1920s to 1930, the French focused on exploiting land and building plantation. The Bay Ngan plantation of Albert was one of the biggest plantations at that time with more than 30,000 ha and 3,000 sharecropping households. Each year Albert collected millions of each 20 kgs. The place for storing rice of Albert was at Tan Hoa commune where people also called Lau Trang or Lau Ong Kho with an area of more than 1 ha. All efforts, sweat and tear of peasants were concentrated here. Peasants had to work hard all months and year-round and became emptyhanded every season. With the usury policy, the landlords swept off everything from the peasants. Sharecroppers were in extremely miserable situation and maltreated and beaten at any time.

Interest for agriculture and waterway traffic:

To the French colonialists, digging the canal was intended to plunder goods and exploit the fruits of peasants’ labor in agricultural production. However, this canal also brings a lot of real significance. That is it can carry fresh water from the Lower Mekong river to remove alum and salt from wide fallow areas for developing agricultural production and simultaneously it also brings benefit to dwellers in going back and forth. Thanks to the Xa No and its affluent, Can Tho and Rach Gia were reclaimed their virgin land and have become a good land area with remarkably increasing rice area and rice yield. In beginning years after the canal was finished, the dwellers were thinly populated on both banks of the canal. They became more crowded gradually and formed gardens and planted fruit-trees. Some markets like Vam Xang, Bay Ngan, Cai Nhum etc. were established and became well-to-do. Many mill plants were established, which remarkably changed the scenery along both banks of the Xa No canal.

The Xa No canal is a very important waterway in transporting goods, agricultural products from Ca Mau, Kien Giang to Can Tho, HCMC and some other provinces in the Mekong delta and vice versa. In August 1997, the government approved and carried out the project of improving internal waterway in the South from Ho Chi Minh city to Ca Mau including the Xa No canal. In the present economic development, there are thousands of boats and ships moving heaven and earth in crowds everyday in the Xa No canal and transporting a great number of goods and passengers to everywhere. It is right as Mr. Tran Thanh Lap, the vice-chairman of people’s committee of Hau Giang province evaluates: “the Xa No canal waterway which goes through the province is the life-line traffic serving not only for the real benefit of Hau Giang province but also the whole Mekong Delta in the waterway from HCMC to Ca Mau of the South.

Being the national waterway, the Xa No canal is always bustling in a new life. With 2 ways of moving, this canal is to transport agricultural materials, building materials down and agricultural products up.

Present Xa No:

40 km long of the Xa No canal is just a short distance compared to the length of the country. And 100 years of forming the Xa No canal is not a long time in comparison with 4000 years of the nation. However, there have been so many marvellous changes in such a distance and time.

With hard work from hands of people, the former village of sesbania sesban must be changed for other cultivated crops with high economic value. A century elapsed with the breaking and extension the river by time, the present stage of both banks is reduced agricultural development of this area. That is the changes of varieties structure and production mode.

The former peasants had to stay late and get up early to go to the rice field when the sun did not rise yet and went home when it was completely dark, which people often say “Sunlight and dew life”. Being such a hard work that they could only have one rice crop all year round. The people must carry out many stages in a crop such as rice sowing, rice seedlings transplanting (the first seedlings transplant) and pull up the seedlings after nearly 2 months and then transplant them again but the yield is not 2 tons/ha.

The peasants now know how to master the progress of technical science and make a new development of rice yield and rice quality. The field land of both banks has become an area specializing in cultivating high-quality rice. Mr. Lam Ngoc Quang, one of the good peasants in rice production and also the head of high quality rice club of Vi Thuy district says: “For peasants like me, the Xa No canal is very necessary. Besides the fresh water for daily life, the canal also brings irrigation source for the cultivating field. The Xa No canal brings a lot of silt to look after the rice field yearly. Peasants can cultivate 3 rice crops a year bringing lots of profits. Mr. Lam Ngoc Quang affirms: “The Xa No canal is the same as the heart blood of peasants in this area”.

The Xa No waterway in which its irrigation system was completed and can carry fresh water and silt to aluminous areas with scorching sunlight for helping peasants in taking the initiative in irrigation, planting more fruit-trees and raising more fishes. Previous simple thatched houses are replaced with tile-roofed houses and bricked houses. Years elapsed, the canal still has high and low water levels a day, but the lives of people here have changed so much etc.

The modern beauty of Xa No canal:

Nearly 20 kms of stone jetty along both banks of the Xa No canal are planned to go through Vi Thanh town, districts of Vi Thuy, Chau Thanh A (Hau Giang province) and are under construction with more than completed 90% of quantity of the first stage. The purpose to build this stone jetty is not only to prevent landslide and beautify the Xa No canal but also serves the benefits and welfare of people.

Following Xa No canal banks, everybody recently finds no low-roofed houses which locate near the banks and are always in the risk of “jumping into the canal” because of landslide. The replacement is a strong concrete jetty with hundreds meters long along the national highway 61 from Vi Thanh town.

Concrete jetty which prevents landslide and is also an ideal playing and amusing place – picture taken by Thanh Xuan

On the completed concrete jetty is forming a park with tiles and systems of verdure basin, lights, stairs for going up and down the banks. It creates good-looking views. Seeing the jetty work being longer, Mr. Le Thi Huong with 68 years old, the resident who lives in Vi Thanh for along time says: “When the jetty was not built before, near both banks had been all slums with many luxuriant plants and trees. Along the banks had been slovenly floating waste. Now it has changed, a new neat concrete jetty is taking form”.

To many people in Hau Giang, the province has few amusing areas. Therefore, building the park on the jetty to create amusing areas is ideal. In the afternoon, people often come here to play and enjoy fresh air, have a walk and do exercise.

In the statement placed in the Youth newspaper, Mr. Tran Thanh Lap, the vice-chairman of Hau Giang province says the Xa No canal part which goes through the province is the life-line waterway part not only served for the real benefits of Hau Giang province but also the Mekong delta in the whole waterway from HCMC to Ca Mau and the West sea in the South. Mr. Lap emphasizes: the main purpose of the work is to prevent landslide. But the province also takes advantage of this work to develop urban areas and arranges the system of residents; makes this jetty a amusing place, a green urban walking place to develop tourism; limits building unlicensed houses along the banks”.
Mr. Nguyen Van Dong, the Director of Agriculture and Rural Development also affirms: Now, Xa No is the important waterway in the region and creates special scenery of Hau Giang. Trading activities, restaurants, shops along the Xa No canal make a crowded urban in the South of the Lower Mekong river.

The director of Department of tourism of Hau Giang province, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung says: “The trade centre, the system of mill plants, markets, Dai Han lake tourism area, yacht etc.

At present, many shops which trade in interior decoration products, goldsmith’s shops, machinery, equipments all “lean on” the Xa No canal etc.

The Xa No canal is always bustling with a new rhythm of life. Years elapsed, the canal still has high and low water levels a day, but the lives of people here have changed so much etc.

Over 100 years, the Xa No canal changes comprehensively to receive a series of important events which are that the town of Hau Giang province is going to be an urban of type 3, Hau Giang makes hectic preparations for organizing the first Vietnam Rice Festival and The Xa No canal concrete jetty is one of the events of 1000 years of Thang Long Ha Noi, which marks a new development of this area.

Tuyết Loan
(Having used materials of colleages of Hau Giang newspaper and Youth newspaper)