Saline intrusion has occurred earlier than normal in the Mekong Delta and is expected to affect a greater area this year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Though saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta was predicted to come earlier and with higher level of salinity than that recorded in the 2015-2016 dry season, the damages to farming areas are expected to be less serious as authorities and farmers have taken measures to cope with the situation in the 2019-2020 dry season.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has forecast saltwater intrusion for 10 of the 13 provincial-level localities in the Mekong Delta this dry season, and the phenomenon has already appeared in eight so far.
A conference was held in Ben Tre province on January 3 to discuss measures for coping with drought and saltwater intrusion which are getting more serious in the Mekong Delta this dry season.
The Mekong Delta may experience sooner and even more serious droughts and saltwater intrusion in the 2019 – 2020 dry season, compared to the situation in 2016 when historic saline intrusion was recorded, an official has said.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has directed the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to prepare solutions in order to ensure electricity supply in 2020, especially in the dry season.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has urged residents and businesses in Phnom Penh to be prepared for electricity shortages which could occur in this year’s dry season if water levels at hydropower dams run low.
The Central Highlands province of Gia Lai on October 22 launched a search for and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts in Cambodia for the 2019 – 2020 dry season.
Thousands of people in Indonesia prayed for rain in haze-hit towns throughout Sumatra and Borneo islands as forest fires raged at the height of the dry season, Antara news agency reported on September 11.
Malaysia has closed hundreds of schools in Sarawak state after air quality dropped due to the ongoing haze, the state Education Department said on September 10.
Salinity and droughts will come earlier and be more severe than in the 2018-2019 dry season in the Mekong Delta, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) of Indonesia has warned about high risks of forest and land fires in many Southeast Asian countries as a result of dry conditions in the region.
Remains of 17 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who laid down their lives in Cambodia during wartime were brought home by a search and repatriation team of Dak Lak province in the 2018 – 2019 dry season.
If extreme heat continues in the central region until the end of the dry season, about 65,500ha of rice and annual crops will suffer from drought and water scarcity, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
A ceremony was held in Cambodia’s Kampong Chhnang province on July 10 to repatriate remains of 22 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who laid their lives down there during wartime.
Head of Singapore’s National Environment Agency's (NEA) Chew Ming Fai has warned that the dengue problem in the country will get worse before it gets better, as the coming dry, hot months are prime breeding season for the dengue-spreading mosquito.
Authorities of several regions in Indonesia have been reminded to intensify the monitoring for possible forest fires and droughts, as this year's dry season is forecast to be drier compared to the previous year.
There is a high risk of drought in the central and south-central coastal provinces as the dry season is forecast to extend to August and even September of 2019, according to Hoang Phuc Lam, Deputy Director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF).
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