Deputy PM visits flood-hit provinces in central VN

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai presents supplies to people who were relocated from landslide-prone areas in Leng Village, in Tra Bong District’s Tra Lam Commune in the central province of Quang Ngai. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Long

PHU YEN — Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai continued his tour of flood-hit areas in central Viet Nam yesterday, arriving in Phu Yen Province after visiting victims of last week’s flood in Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh provinces.

Hai and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, also visited Quang Nam and Khanh Hoa provinces to help guide recovery work and support victims’ families.

The deputy PM asked all localities to do everything possible to prevent the outbreak of diseases following the natural disaster and to ensure people in flood-hit areas had food and were warm.

According to the National Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control, the recent floods claimed 21 lives, while five person was still missing and 20 were injured.

According to Government reports, 234 houses were wiped out and 164 others damaged, while flood waters still had not receded from 11,000 houses. There were also 5,470ha of crops and 1,322ha of aquaculture ponds ruined by the most recent flood since November, 18.

The deputy PM asked Phu Yen authorities to better prepare local residents for floods, following criticism that provincial authorities had not paid enough attention to flood preparedness work, resulting in loss of life and property that could have been prevented.

According to the Phu Yen Committee of Flood and Storm Control, 15 people in the province had died since September due to floods and storms which caused damage worth VND60 billion (US$3.6 million).

On his tour of Quang Ngai, Hai met teacher Kim Yen, whose 15-month-old son died in a landslide caused by flooding, and visited 63 Kor ethnic minority households who were moved away from landslide-prone areas at Choeng Mountain in Tra Lam Commune.

Hai asked authorities in Quang Ngai to support the victims and move people living in landslide-prone areas into safe houses, adding they must also restore transport corridors to connect the area with nearby districts as well as restore irrigation works and buy seeds to restore local agriculture production.

Quang Ngai authorities asked the Government for VND60 billion ($3.6million) in funds for flood recovery work, as well as 1,000 tonnes of rice and 400 tonnes of seeds.

Central Binh Dinh Province reported eight deaths, with six injured and one missing since November, 11. The floods and storms caused damage worth a total of VND120 billion ($7.2 million).

Hai agreed to the province’s request of support worth VND170 billion ($10 million).

The deputy PM asked all the central provinces he visited to strengthen the management of reservoirs, especially small ones that were poorly maintained.

He also asked them to prepare for a happy Tet (lunar New Year) holiday, which falls in late January.

HCM City’s Fatherland Front deputy chairman Le Hieu Dang said the city had sent VND1 billion to Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai to help recovery work.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, although the floods have reduced crop productivity, the affected provinces can still harvest 38.5 million tonnes of crops, an increase of 2.6 million tonnes compared with last year.

The ministry planned to invest VND1 trillion ($60 million) in a programme to upgrade irrigation systems in the area to better suit the more volatile climate. —