Pushing ahead with post-flood reconstruction

On November 28, Nghiem Xuan Thanh, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; and Tran Phong, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, chaired a meeting to review flood recovery efforts aimed at restoring production and stabilizing people’s lives.

Also present at the event were Tran Thu Mai, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice-Chairman of the Provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee; Trinh Minh Hoang, Vice-Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of departments and agencies and 21 communes and wards heavily affected by floods.

Provincial Party Secretary Nghiem Xuan Thanh concludes the meeting.

Urgent flood recovery

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, as many as 100,754 households were affected by the recent floods. Together with local forces, the province mobilized nearly 16,000 personnel from the armed forces and militia, along with 394 vehicles, to carry out response, rescue and relief operations.

 “The province has proactively allocated funds to localities to buy necessities to support flood-affected people with VND1 million /person to stabilize their lives; students with VND500,000 to buy school supplies, VND300,000 to buy uniforms, etc. The province has mobilized forces to participate in environmental sanitation, clean-up at schools to welcome students back,” said Nghiem Xuan Thanh.

Nghiem Xuan Thanh Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: The priority task in the coming time is to quickly stabilize people's lives, restore production and business for economic development. Localities must complete the implementation of policies to support people to stabilize their lives (phase 1) by November 30. The Provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee coordinates with departments and branches must propose the allocation of resources from both central and local levels to carry out Phase 2 support to ensure timely aid. Essential goods must be distributed fairly, cash support given to the right people, student aid completed within the week and zero-cost vegetable stalls effectively deployed.

Regarding flood damage, Nguyen Dinh Anh Minh, Chairman of the Tay Nha Trang Ward People’s Committee, proposed providing support to residents without temporary residence registration if confirmed by their landlords. Nguyen Thi Hong Hai, Chairman of Ninh Hoa Ward People's Committee, proposed that the province allow contractors to be appointed for the repair and procurement of school facilities to welcome students back soon.

At the meeting, local leaders raised concerns about the large volume of garbage, requesting provincial support with machinery and manpower. Nguyen Duy Quang, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, reported that nearly 20,000 tons have been collected after the flood and expects province-wide cleanup to be essentially completed by November 30.

Workers of Nha Trang Urban Environment Company are urgently clearing garbage in Tay Nha Trang Ward.

Quickly stabilizing lives and restoring production and business

At the meeting, several localities proposed support measures for farmers, including crop and livestock varieties, as well as preferential policies on taxes, loans, debt relief, and extensions to help resume production and business. Le Dai Duong, Chairman of the Bac Nha Trang Ward People’s Committee, noted that many small traders lost nearly all their assets during the recent floods and emphasized the need for preferential loans to restore their businesses.

Agreeing with the recommendations, Provincial Party Secretary Nghiem Xuan Thanh directed departments and agencies to provide consultancy on policies that support businesses in restoring production, creating jobs, and ensuring sustainable incomes; the banking sector to effectively implement measures such as debt forgiveness, extensions, interest rate exemptions and reductions, etc.; and the tax sector to review options for tax exemptions and reductions for affected businesses.

In particular, he specifically called for the immediate implementation of policies to restore agricultural production, including support for seeds, seedlings, and irrigation works, along with the prompt allocation of provincial funds and advancement of central counterpart funding to ensure timely execution. Nghiem Xuan Thanh emphasized the urgent need for solutions to revive the economy and meet growth targets, with a focus on tourism, agriculture, industry and construction. In particular, he stressed measures to stimulate tourism and accelerate the disbursement of public investment capital.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the floods left 22 people dead and 20 injured; 115 houses collapsed and 922 were damaged. The total estimated losses exceed VND 5,747 billion, excluding damage to personal property.

Khanh Hoa Province has received numerous sources of support to promptly stabilize people's lives and restore production. The province has received and allocated VND400 billion from the central budget; the Fatherland Front Committee of the province has received more than VND200 billion in registered support, including VND89.1 billion that has been transferred to the Relief Fund. The province has received 2,000 tons of rice from the national reserve; 10,000 relief gifts from the Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City; more than 700 tons of essential goods from Ho Chi Minh City and other localities; equipment and machinery from agencies and enterprises.

In addition, Nghiem Xuan Thanh requested the Department of Agriculture and Environment to coordinate with departments, agencies and localities to speed up environmental cleanup; Departments and localities to guide residents and businesses to restore lost or damaged documents; proactively deploy measures to ensure security and order; prepare response scenarios for Storm Koto and promptly review disaster prevention and control efforts carried out from November 16 to 22.

T.N

Translated by N.T