Illustrative image (Source: VNA) The Deputy PM madethe request at a working session with officials from ministries, agencies andprovinces in the Mekong Delta in An Giang province on May 15 to review recentlandslides and erosion in the region.
He suggested the localitiescultivate other plants and shift economic models as the Mekong Delta issuffering serious drought, saltwater intrusion and landslides as impacts ofclimate change.
Deputy PM Dungasked the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, and NaturalResources and Environment to team up with other ministries and agencies tostudy currents and the amount of alluvium in the Tien and Hau rivers.
The Ministry ofNatural Resources and Environment should review the exploitation of sand andpebbles, he said, asking the Ministries of Construction, Planning andInvestment, and Finance to join hands to implement projects resettlinglandslide-affected residents.
Meanwhile, thelocalities were requested to protect the lives and property of people and relocatehouseholds away from landslide-prone areas.
At the workingsession, Tran Quang Hoai, Deputy Director of the General Department ofIrrigation, said the Mekong Delta has more than 500 landslide-prone spots withmany serious cases recently occurring in Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, An Giang and DongThap.
The root causes ofthe problem lie with the illegal exploitation of sand, pebbles, undergroundwater and other natural resources in upper rivers, and sea-level rises, hesaid.
Chairman of the AnGiang provincial People’s Committee Vuong Binh Thanh said 162km out of 400 kmof river banks in the locality are vulnerable to landslides.
Recollecting the landslidein My Hoi Dong Commune, Cho Moi district, on April 22 that made 14 houses andtwo house floors fall into the Hau River and forced 107 households to relocate,Thanh proposed the Government provide the locality 116 billion VND (5.1 millionUSD) to deal with the consequences of the incident.
Vice Chairman of theDong Thap People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Hung also reported that up to 13landslides occurred in the locality so far this year in Hong Ngu, Thanh Binhand Cao Lanh districts, and Hong Ngu town.
Landslides arethreatening 227 local households in Dong Thap, he said, requesting 72.8 billionVND (3.2 million USD) from the Government to handle the problem.
Officials from CaMau, Bac Lieu and Soc Trang provinces and Can Tho City said that each year,localities in the Mekong Delta lose hundreds of hectares of land along riverbanks and the seaside due to landslides.
Thousands ofhouseholds face accommodation problems, they said, noting that localities havedifficulties in finance as well as forecasting and assessing natural disasterimpacts.-VNA
VNA
