PM asks for drastic measures to deal with consequences of disasters, resume production
Hanoi (VNA) - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has sent a
dispatch to relevant ministries, sectors, and localities requesting they focus
on settling the consequences of natural disasters and recovering production in
the central region.
He highlighted the need to concentrate on ensuring food supplies to those
affected and supporting households with damaged housing to re-build before the upcoming
Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, while urgently restoring basic infrastructure,
especially healthcare and education and transport, irrigation, and dyke networks.
Ministries, sectors, and localities should prepare climate change
scenarios as well as comprehensive assessments of the risk posed by natural
disasters and their impact on people’s livelihoods and socio-economic
development, the PM said, thus enabling an appropriate response.
At the same time, it is necessary to bolster resilience against natural
disasters in terms of housing and public facilities, review policies on social
welfare, ethnic minority affairs, and housing to provide more support for poor
households to build safe houses, and evacuate people in at-risk areas.
The PM asked for close control over investment in the construction of
infrastructure serving socio-economic development, particularly hydropower dams
and plants and especially small-scale ones, along with the protection and
planting of forests and the minimising of any ecological impact.
At the same time, he highlighted the need to complete legal regulations
and policies relating to natural disaster prevention and response and
overcoming the consequences, with adjustments to procedures regarding urgent
support and fund raising and distribution.
More resources should be invested in natural disaster mitigation and search and
rescue activities, he stressed, while focusing on repairing and upgrading the dyke
network and associating investment in natural disaster prevention with the socio-economic
development plans of different sectors and localities.
The Government leader asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development to coordinate with localities to assist natural disaster-hit residents
in resuming agricultural production. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and
Social Affairs was asked to work closely with other ministries to deal with any
difficulties arising in supporting flood-hit households with housing, while
keeping a close watch on the hunger situation in localities.
He asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to enhance the
quality of its forecasting activities and to build a natural disaster map. The
Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Public Security were requested to
review the locations of their bases to ensure safety, while preparing equipment
for search and rescue activities.
The Ministry of Transport was asked to support localities in fixing
roads damaged by flooding and landslides, while the Ministry of Industry and
Trade was directed to monitor materials and goods to avoid shortages and rising
prices, while reviewing the planning of and tightening the control over the
construction of hydropower reservoirs and dams.
The Ministry of Construction was urged to design and guide the building of
resilient housing for people in flood-affected areas, while the Ministry of
Finance was asked to submit a draft decree on the raising, distribution, and
use of support for disaster-hit residents.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment was directed to prioritise the
allocation of public investment to localities suffering from natural disasters,
while the State Bank of Vietnam was asked to guide credit organisations in offering
support to people and businesses affected.
Meanwhile, the PM also asked the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central
Committee to continue providing guidelines and supervision over activities to
raise funds, to ensure transparency, equality, and efficiency./.