The Government has approved a project to upgrade and expand the Go Cong sea dyke at a cost of 1.4 trillion VND in the Mekong delta province of Tien Giang from now until 2020.

Head of the Tien Giang Department of Storm and Flood Control and Prevention and Irrigation Nguyen Thien Phap said that from now until 2012 his province will upgrade a 21km section of the dyke from Tan Thanh commune to Vam Lang commune in Go Cong Dong district and plant 109.15ha of forests to protect the weaker sections.

The province will also build a secondary defensive dyke almost 12km long about one km from the main dyke, at a cost of 281 billion VND, said Phap.

Once completed, in 2020, the dyke will protect nearly 54,000 ha of rice and industrial crops, fruit trees and thousands of local houses from floods, high tides, rising sea levels and storms of over 102km per hour./.