Deputy PM urges Mekong Delta to set forth scenarios for landslide response
Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung urged has localities in the Mekong Delta to devise measures to cope with landslides in the context of climate change.
Illustrative image (Source: VNA)
An Giang (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung urged has localities in the
Mekong Delta to devise measures to cope with landslides in the context of
climate change.
The Deputy PM made
the request at a working session with officials from ministries, agencies and
provinces in the Mekong Delta in An Giang province on May 15 to review recent
landslides and erosion in the region.
He suggested the localities
cultivate other plants and shift economic models as the Mekong Delta is
suffering serious drought, saltwater intrusion and landslides as impacts of
climate change.
Deputy PM Dung
asked the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Natural
Resources and Environment to team up with other ministries and agencies to
study currents and the amount of alluvium in the Tien and Hau rivers.
The Ministry of
Natural Resources and Environment should review the exploitation of sand and
pebbles, he said, asking the Ministries of Construction, Planning and
Investment, and Finance to join hands to implement projects resettling
landslide-affected residents.
Meanwhile, the
localities were requested to protect the lives and property of people and relocate
households away from landslide-prone areas.
At the working
session, Tran Quang Hoai, Deputy Director of the General Department of
Irrigation, said the Mekong Delta has more than 500 landslide-prone spots with
many serious cases recently occurring in Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, An Giang and Dong
Thap.
The root causes of
the problem lie with the illegal exploitation of sand, pebbles, underground
water and other natural resources in upper rivers, and sea-level rises, he
said.
Chairman of the An
Giang provincial People’s Committee Vuong Binh Thanh said 162km out of 400 km
of river banks in the locality are vulnerable to landslides.
Recollecting the landslide
in My Hoi Dong Commune, Cho Moi district, on April 22 that made 14 houses and
two house floors fall into the Hau River and forced 107 households to relocate,
Thanh proposed the Government provide the locality 116 billion VND (5.1 million
USD) to deal with the consequences of the incident.
Vice Chairman of the
Dong Thap People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Hung also reported that up to 13
landslides occurred in the locality so far this year in Hong Ngu, Thanh Binh
and Cao Lanh districts, and Hong Ngu town.
Landslides are
threatening 227 local households in Dong Thap, he said, requesting 72.8 billion
VND (3.2 million USD) from the Government to handle the problem.
Officials from Ca
Mau, Bac Lieu and Soc Trang provinces and Can Tho City said that each year,
localities in the Mekong Delta lose hundreds of hectares of land along river
banks and the seaside due to landslides.
Thousands of
households face accommodation problems, they said, noting that localities have
difficulties in finance as well as forecasting and assessing natural disaster
impacts.-VNA