Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai called for the early completion of the resettlement of local residents displaced by the construction of Son La and Lai Chau hydropower plants, making it easier for them to settle into new homes soon.

Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau provinces are already creating resettlement areas, but are still slow in completing the financial paperwork at the Son La hydropower plant and auditing payment compensations for displaced residents.

By the end of October 2014, contractors finished 80 percent of the construction work on the Lai Chau hydropower plant, but progress on the road network between Nam Nhun, Muong Te and Pac Ma, on site clearance, and on the bidding procedures for the Son La-Lai Chau 500kV transmission line and infrastructure development in resettlement areas is sluggish, the State Steering Board for the Son La–Lai Chau hydropower projects told Hai, who is also head of the steering board.

In Lai Chau, the resettlement and site clearance procedures for the hydropower plant are on schedule, with more than 1,380 households relocated and provided access to clean water and electricity.

With the goal of generating electricity by late 2015, Lai Chau authorities requested permission to use 75 billion VND (3.5 million USD) from the project’s funds to renovate facilities that serve the displaced residents.

Concluding the event, Hai called upon the units concerned to conclude a financial report on the resettlement process for the Son La hydropower plant, which is expected to come to an end next year.

The Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Industry and Trade, Transport, Finance, and Planning and Investment were requested to do their relevant parts for the projects’ implementation.

Earlier, Hai inspected the progress at the Lai Chau hydropower plant.-VNA