HA NOI – One of the central roles of the political system at the moment would be to help central provinces quickly recover from the recent flooding, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the monthly Government meeting last Saturday.
He emphasised the need for environmental sanitation so that residents could return to their normal lives and production, and the repairing of infrastructure and schooling facilities to help local students return to their classes as soon as possible.
The PM called for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to work closely with relevant ministries, sectors and localities to continue implementing natural disaster prevention and mitigation measures.
He stressed the need to integrate these measures with socio-economic development plans; to build concrete houses to protect local people against flooding; strengthen flood defences; improve natural disaster forecasting and warnings; adjust production mechanisms; and invest in infrastructure to help local residents mitigate against damage caused by natural disasters.
According to MARD Minister Cao Duc Phat, the flooding has so far claimed 155 lives with 29 still missing and has caused a total loss of property worth VND11.6 trillion (US$580 million).
Areas remain isolated
Thousands of people in the central provinces of Dak Lak, Khanh Hoa, and Quang Ngai are still isolated because of road collapses caused by the floods, and are facing a critical shortage of food and other basic necessities, local media reported.
In the Central Highland's province of Dak Lak, 3,000 families in Vu Bon Commune, located on the southern banks of the Krong Pak River, are in just this predicament. An estimated 10,000 people are facing acute food shortages and schools have remained closed.
In Khanh Hoa Province, four mountainous communes in the province's Khanh Son District are still isolated because of collapsed roads while residents in other parts of the province have already begun the clean up operation after the waters receded.
Roads leading to the districts of Thanh Son, Son Lam, Son Binh and Son Hiep in the province have not been repaired because of heavy damage. The Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper has reported that thousands of ethnic Raglai residents are facing critical shortages and lack other food necessities.
In Quang Ngai, around 20,000 people in the island district of Ly Son have had no access to the mainland for 10 days, cut off from food and basic necessities. Heavy seas have made it impossible for boats to travel to the island.
Local officials said that food was running out and the district authority plans to call for food drops. "If the strong wind continues until Wednesday, we will run out of food reserves and will have to call for help by helicopter, like in 1999," said Tran Ngoc Nguyen, chairman of the district People's Committee.
Dams wreak destruction
Several hydropower plants in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong warned people living downstream to move to higher ground after they discharged water from their reservoirs following heavy rains last week.
The rains that lasted from November 1 to 4 seriously threatened the safety of the Da Nhim Hydropower Plant in Don Duong district which released its maximum possible volume of 500 cubic metres per second.
"The loss caused by flooding and water released from the plant is estimated at VND22 billion (US$1.3 million)," Dinh Ngoc Hung, chairman of Don Duong District, said.
The dam was originally meant to have a discharge capacity of 4,500 m3 per second.
"Local authorities and people living downstream on the Da Nhim river have ignored warnings that they should not build houses or grow long-term crops along the river," Mai Nam Duong, deputy director of the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, told a meeting held last Thursday to discuss the situation. However, 50 years of unrestrained construction has restricted the water flow in the river.
Soon, other dams like Dai Ninh, Pro, Rlom, and Dong Nai 3 will also release water, worsening the flood situation.
Leader aids relief effort
On Saturday, Viet Nam Fatherland Front Chairman Huynh Dam paid a visit to the south-central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan, which were hit hard by floods in early November, and handed aid relief to victims.
In Khanh Hoa, Dam offered his condolences to families who had lost loved ones in the floods and announced the Government was making available VND500 million (roughly US$25,500) from the central relief fund for the province.
He later granted another aid package of VND91 billion for flood victims in neighbouring Ninh Thuan Province which he also visited to present gifts to families of the dead.
On the same day, Ninh Thuan welcomed a convoy of trucks carrying supplies for flood victims in the worst hit Phuoc Nam Village, Thuan Nam District. The supplies included 13.5 tonnes of rice, VND100 million, 350 boxes of instant noodles and hundreds of clothing items and medicine worth VND100 million. — VNS
