Absolutely protect the safety of forests associated with historical sites

(Baonghean.vn) - That is the direction ofComrade Nguyen Xuan Duong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee at the inspection of forest fire prevention in Nam Dan on the afternoon of May 10.

Here, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and the working delegation inspected the fire prevention and control work at the key area of ​​the relic site of Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan's tomb and some communes: Nam Giang, Nam Loc, Khanh Son, Nam Kim. Through the inspection, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee specifically assessed and rectified some tasks that need to be implemented in the coming time.

Nam Dan district has 5,624 hectares of forested land, mainly pine forests, a highly flammable tree species, which spreads quickly. Although the forest area is not large, it is associated with many important historical sites such as the tomb of Ba Hoang Thi Loan; the tomb of King Mai Hac De and is adjacent to districts where forest fires often occur such as Thanh Chuong, Do Luong, Hung Nguyen and Huong Son (Ha Tinh).

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong and the working delegation inspected the fire prevention and control plan at the relic site of Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan's tomb. Photo: Thu Huyen

On average, there are 5 fires each year in the district, with 3 fires in low-income years and 8 fires in high-income years, concentrated in Nam Loc, Nam Kim and Khanh Son communes.

Reporting at the meeting, the leader of Nam Dan district said: In implementing the work of Forest Protection & Development, Nam Dan has completed the Steering Committee to implement the district's forest protection and development plan; Developed operating regulations and announced specific tasks to members; Developed a forest fire prevention and fighting plan in 2017. At the same time, the District People's Committee organized a meeting with the Party Committee and the People's Committee of Khanh Son commune (a key commune with many forest fires in 2016) to supplement some contents in the work of forest fire prevention and fighting in 2017, in which it requested the Commune People's Committee and the Special-use Forest Management Board to stop exploiting pine resin in 2017 to rectify and overcome shortcomings in exploitation.

Inspecting and surveying the construction of firebreaks in the Nam Thuong and Nam Kim forest areas. Photo: Thu Huyen

"The entire district has organized pre-burning of 662 hectares of combustible materials, clearing vegetation under the pine forest canopy of 450 hectares in the communes of Nam Giang, Kim Lien, Van Dien, Nam Thai, Nam Tan, Nam Loc, Khanh Son, Nam Hung, Nam Nghia. In the first quarter of 2017, the Special-Use Forest Management Board completed the design documents for the concrete runway at the tomb of King Mai Hac De and the tomb of Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan, which were approved and implemented. However, the risk of fire spreading in the southwest wind blowing from Ha Tinh is very high in the border area, so it is recommended that the province invest in building a firebreak runway for prevention" - Mr. Ho Sy Hai - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee said.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Hoang Quoc Viet - Head of the Forest Protection Department said that Nghe An is the locality with the largest pine forest area in the country - the most flammable tree species in the hot season. Currently, the 2017 fire prevention and control work has been developed and implemented. The forest rangers are on duty 24/24, stationed regularly at Nam Giang station (Nam Dan).

"Nghe An's characteristics are hot, fierce, long summers, drought, high temperatures, low humidity, and strong Lao winds that easily cause forest fires. Subjectively, many recent fires were basically caused by intentional forest burning by people, conflicts among the people, arising from relationships such as: disputes over forest use rights, forest land, rights to exploit pine resin, rights in forest protection contracts, conflicts between officials and people... In fact, the cases of intentional forest burning that have occurred for a long time have not yet been investigated for the cause of the forest burning to be handled, in order to educate and deter" - said the Head of the Forest Protection Department.

Overview of the working session. Photo: Thu Huyen

After inspecting the field and listening to reports from relevant units, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong emphasized: 2017 has two consecutive Junes, so the weather forecast may be hot and dry for a long time, threatening the safety of forests in the province. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and related units and localities must absolutely protect the safety of forests associated with historical and cultural relics of the province such as the tomb of Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan; the forest of the tomb of King Mai Hac De, and historical and cultural works in the district.

Nam Dan needs to coordinate and direct the implementation of propaganda, dissemination and legal education in the village community on forest fire prevention and control; sign commitments among the community and students. Direct the development of forest fire prevention and control plans of forest owners and People's Committees of key communes, and effectively implement plan 4 on-site...

For forest fires that occur, direct the district police to set up a special investigation team to investigate the perpetrators of the fires for strict handling. At the same time, review personal responsibilities and learn from each fire.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee agreed to build a large enough firebreak to prevent fire from spreading along the southwest wind direction from Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province and Thanh Chuong district, combined with a road for people and forest fire fighting vehicles in 2017; assigning the Nam Dan Protective Forest Management Board as the investor.

"In the past time, the Party Committee and the authorities of Nam Dan district have directed drastic and synchronous solutions for forest fire prevention and fighting; focusing on implementing the 4-on-site plan in forest fire prevention and fighting from the village, commune and forest owner levels. Hopefully in 2017, Nam Dan district will do a good job in forest fire prevention and fighting, eliminating and ending "hot spots" of forest fires in the area" - the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee emphasized./.

Thu Huyen