To actively prevent landslides, ensure the safety of people's lives and properties before and during the rainy season in Vietnam

To actively prevent landslides, ensure the safety of people's lives and properties before and during the rainy season in Vietnam (Internet image)

Impacts of climate change, increasingly extreme and unpredictable natural disasters, prolonged intense heat, heavy rain in many localities, and consecutive riverbank and coastal erosion, caused great damage to people, houses, people's properties, and infrastructure works.

To proactively prevent landslides, ensure life safety, limit property damage to people, and improve infrastructure, the Prime Minister requests ministers, chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities, and the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control to perform the following tasks:

- Presidents of People's Committees of Provinces and centrally run cities shall direct functional agencies and forces for natural disaster prevention and control at the grassroots level:

+ Organize inspection and review of residential areas, schools, medical facilities, agency offices, and barracks along rivers, streams, canals, coastal areas, and slope areas to promptly detect areas at risk of landslides during heavy rain;

Resolutely organize the relocation or have a proactive plan to prevent landslides, evacuate when there is a bad situation to ensure life safety, and limit property damage to people and infrastructure. At the same time, there is a plan to support resettlement and stabilize life for displaced households.

+ Strictly manage, strengthen inspection and supervision of licensing and exploitation of sand and gravel on rivers, streams, and canals to limit landslides and at the same time ensure the supply of construction materials; especially for national key projects, transport infrastructure projects;

Strictly handle cases of illegal mining and gathering of sand, gravel, and construction materials in accordance with the law.

+ Inspect safety work at construction sites, especially construction works in residential areas along rivers, streams, canals, and slopes; suspend the construction of works if it is not safe or there is a risk of causing landslides, affecting the flow, or flooding drainage.

+ In the long term, it is necessary to strictly control the planning and construction of houses and works along rivers, streams, canals, and coastal areas to overcome the situation of houses and works encroaching on the flow, increasing the risk of being affected by landslides; at the same time, proactively review and rearrange the population in areas that are unsafe, affect the flow, or have a high risk of landslides along rivers, streams, canals, and coastal areas, especially in the Mekong Delta.

- Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment:

+ Work closely with Vietnam Television Station, Voice of Vietnam Radio, and other mass media at the central and local levels to enhance knowledge dissemination and instruct people on the methods to recognize possible signs of landslides, riverbank landslides, and coastal landslides so that people can actively evacuate and relocate before landslides occur.

+ Direct the localities to strictly manage the exploitation of sand and gravel in the river in accordance with the provisions of law, at the same time, ensure the source of construction materials for key national projects and transport infrastructure projects in accordance with the direction of the Government and the Prime Minister; strengthen inspection and examination; and strictly handle violations in licensing and exploitation of sand and gravel.

- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development:

+ Build and update a database on landslides; summarizing the landslide situation in localities, especially in the Mekong River Delta, and reporting to the Prime Minister according to regulations.

+ Work closely with Vietnam Television, Voice of Vietnam, and other mass media at the central and local levels to strengthen law dissemination on the prevention and control of natural disasters and landslides, guiding localities and people on coping skills when landslides occur.

+ Direct and urge localities to take urgent measures to prevent and combat landslides and implement the Project on Prevention and Control of River Bank and Coastal Erosion by 2030 approved by the Prime Minister; continue to promote the planting of trees to break waves; and plant mangrove forests along the coast to prevent and control landslides.

+ Coordinate with the People's Committee of Ca Mau Province and relevant agencies to study and propose pilot projects or mechanisms, and policies in order to mobilize non-budget resources to invest in works to prevent and control riverbank and coastal erosion, in combination with effective exploitation of land resources.

- The Ministry of Transport shall direct the inspection, review, detection, and timely handling of areas at risk of landslides in order to ensure smooth traffic safety on highways, national highways, and main traffic axes.

- The Ministry of Construction shall direct the inspection and review of urban management and construction activities to limit the occurrence of landslides, and soon overcome flooding in urban areas and residential areas when it rains heavily.

- The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall direct the prevention and control of landslides, ensuring the safety of forces and works under the management of the sector, especially power supply and transmission systems, pits, and coal mining waste dumps.

- The Ministry of Science and Technology shall coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in conducting research and applying science and technology and new materials in landslide treatment, especially in coastal areas. sea in the Mekong Delta.

- The Ministry of Public Security shall direct local police to coordinate with functional agencies to strengthen patrols, detect and strictly handle cases of illegal and illegal sand and gravel mining in rivers and coastal areas in accordance with the provisions of the law; promptly prosecute violations causing serious consequences.

- Vietnam Television Station, Voice of Vietnam Radio, Vietnam News Agency, and other mass media agencies at the central and local levels shall continue to coordinate with relevant ministries, branches, and localities to strengthen legal propaganda, disseminate knowledge, guide people in awareness and response skills, and minimize damage caused by landslides.

- The National Committee for Incident and Disaster Response and Search and Rescue shall closely monitor the situation of incidents, natural disasters, and landslides, proactively directing and coordinating with ministries, branches, and localities in implementing response, search, and rescue when there are situations, ensuring that it is timely and effective.

- The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control shall closely monitor the situation of natural disasters and landslides and actively direct, inspect, and urge localities to carry out the work of preventing, combating, overcoming consequences, and limiting damage caused by natural disasters and landslides according to their assigned functions and tasks.

- The Government Office shall monitor and urge relevant ministries, agencies, and localities in the implementation of this Official Dispatch and promptly report to the Prime Minister any problems and difficulties in the implementation process.

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE