A Government working team led by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai inspected the erosion at the sea dyke along the eastern coastline and the Ca Mau Cape in the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

According to the provincial People’s Committee, more than 40 kilometres of the province’s sea dyke system has been severely damaged by erosion, including a 5km section of the 76km long eastern sea dyke in the districts of Ngoc Hien and Dam Doi .

Earlier, t he province has repaired about 12km of this eastern dyke system, and is seeking around 1 trillion VND (47 million USD) to build an extension of this dyke with a view to protecting local forests and communities.

Deputy PM Hai hailed the efforts of the province in dealing with the dyke erosion, while asking the province to make careful study before building new dykes in order to find the most suitable solution.

Ca Mau province, surrounded by sea on three sides, is being threatened by saltwater intrusion under the impacts of climate change and sea level rise while local sea dykes have seriously degraded.

A report released by the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment revealed that close to 10,000 hectares of agricultural land in the province have been intruded by sea water.-VNA