Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has sent a dispatch to relevant ministries, sectors, and localities requesting they focus on settling the consequences of natural disasters and recovering production in the central region. 

Youths help deal with consequences of floods (Source: VNA)

He highlighted the need to concentrate on ensuring food supplies to those affected and supporting households with damaged housing to re-build before the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, while urgently restoring basic infrastructure, especially healthcare and education and transport, irrigation, and dyke networks.

Ministries, sectors, and localities should prepare climate change scenarios as well as comprehensive assessments of the risk posed by natural disasters and their impact on people’s livelihoods and socio-economic development, the PM said, thus enabling an appropriate response.

At the same time, it is necessary to bolster resilience against natural disasters in terms of housing and public facilities, review policies on social welfare, ethnic minority affairs, and housing to provide more support for poor households to build safe houses, and evacuate people in at-risk areas.

The PM asked for close control over investment in the construction of infrastructure serving socio-economic development, particularly hydropower dams and plants and especially small-scale ones, along with the protection and planting of forests and the minimising of any ecological impact.

At the same time, he highlighted the need to complete legal regulations and policies relating to natural disaster prevention and response and overcoming the consequences, with adjustments to procedures regarding urgent support and fund raising and distribution.

More resources should be invested in natural disaster mitigation and search and rescue activities, he stressed, while focusing on repairing and upgrading the dyke network and associating investment in natural disaster prevention with the socio-economic development plans of different sectors and localities.

The Government leader asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to coordinate with localities to assist natural disaster-hit residents in resuming agricultural production. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs was asked to work closely with other ministries to deal with any difficulties arising in supporting flood-hit households with housing, while keeping a close watch on the hunger situation in localities.

He asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to enhance the quality of its forecasting activities and to build a natural disaster map. The Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Public Security were requested to review the locations of their bases to ensure safety, while preparing equipment for search and rescue activities.

The Ministry of Transport was asked to support localities in fixing roads damaged by flooding and landslides, while the Ministry of Industry and Trade was directed to monitor materials and goods to avoid shortages and rising prices, while reviewing the planning of and tightening the control over the construction of hydropower reservoirs and dams.

The Ministry of Construction was urged to design and guide the building of resilient housing for people in flood-affected areas, while the Ministry of Finance was asked to submit a draft decree on the raising, distribution, and use of support for disaster-hit residents.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment was directed to prioritise the allocation of public investment to localities suffering from natural disasters, while the State Bank of Vietnam was asked to guide credit organisations in offering support to people and businesses affected.

Meanwhile, the PM also asked the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee to continue providing guidelines and supervision over activities to raise funds, to ensure transparency, equality, and efficiency.