Uygur Party member always ready to wholeheartedly serve fellow villagers

Memetjan Wumer, the former head of the village committee and the secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) branch of Bulukay village in Onyar township, Yining county, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is a role model of the Party when it comes to serving the people wholeheartedly.

Photo shows Memetjan Wumer reading a policy document. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

Wumer was also a recipient of the July 1 Medal, the Party's highest honor conferred on outstanding members, which recognizes their exceptional service and contributions to the Party and the country ahead of the Party’s centenary on July 1.

Wumer had worked in Bulukay village for 20 years since 1981, before leaving the position due to illness in 2001. In 2006, at the request of the villagers, he returned to his post and worked in the village for another 12 years.

“Party members should charge ahead to solve difficulties for villagers,” said Wumer.

The first thing he did after returning to work was convene a meeting of Party members in the village, as he believed that they represented the Party at the grassroots level, and therefore had to set a good example. He even moved the meeting to the yard of the village committee so that villagers could take part in it and express their views.

During the meeting, Wumer wrote down the issues the villagers were concerned with. After the meeting, he divided the Party members into two groups – one for checking the village’s financial accounts, and another for surveying the village’s land resources.

After auditing the village’s assets and financial statements, Wumer found that it was 520,000 yuan in debt, and four cadres were suspected of violating laws and discipline. The four cadres were eventually punished, the collectively-owned land and orchards contracted at lower prices were retrieved, and farmers were invited to bid for the right for land use. Under the reform, the village was brought out of debt, and went on to realize an annual income of more than 1 million yuan.

Wumer said that creating a better life for the villagers was his biggest wish. He led the villagers in building a brick factory and a breeding base to raise sheep for meat, improved infrastructure in the village by installing road lamps, paving asphalt roads, and digging pumping wells, built three bridges and upgraded 8,000 mu, or 533 hectares of low-quality farmland.

After learning that there wasn’t enough farmland for all households in the village to grow crops, Wumer went door to door to learn about people’s needs and encouraged them to engage in businesses other than farming.

Party member Ma Yulin was a diligent man, and at the suggestion of Wumer, he started to raise chickens. Wumer also went with Ma to visit a high-standard chicken farm located in another city and helped him gain access to electricity and water for his chicken business. In 2011, Ma raised 50,000 chickens and set up a poultry farmers' cooperative, inviting his fellow villagers to join his business. In 2020, 500,000 chickens were raised in Bulukay village.

In 2012, Wumer led the villagers in setting up a cooperative for cattle and sheep breeding, with 11 people becoming its first members. The cooperative invited experts to provide regular technical guidance to the farmers, purchased fodder for the farmers, and helped them sell the livestock.

“I sold 105 sheep in total and the price for each sheep was 1,600 yuan,” said Ghiyasidin Eliyas, a member of the cooperative. Over the past nine years, the cooperative has built a prosperous business, becoming a cash cow for its members.

Last year, the average per capita income of villagers in Bulukay reached 19,523 yuan, and the village’s collective income was 2.15 million yuan.