Expedite construction projects before the rainy season.

(Baonghean) - To proactively respond to natural disasters, storms, and floods, the Provincial People's Committee, relevant departments, and localities have organized inspections and supplemented flood and storm prevention and control plans. Many dams, reservoirs, and rescue roads are being urgently expedited.

These days, taking advantage of favorable weather, the construction site for the Khe Ro reservoir upgrade in Dien Lam commune, Dien Chau district, is bustling with vehicles and construction machinery. The Khe Ro reservoir has a catchment area of ​​1.2 km2, a Class III project invested by the Dien Chau District People's Committee, and constructed by Hoang Son Co., Ltd. Mr. Le Van Hien, a technical officer of the company, said that before the upgrade, the dam's weak earth structure caused leakage and water loss, significantly affecting agricultural production and the lives of local people. In 2013, the Khe Ro reservoir upgrade project in Dien Lam commune was approved by the Provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 4743/QD.UBND-NN. The construction unit is accelerating progress to ensure safety during the rainy season and to store water for the 2016 spring crop (the Khe Ro reservoir provides stable irrigation water for 50 hectares of land for two rice crops and serves the needs of the local population). Currently, the Khe Ro dam upgrade project is about 80% complete, including: upstream embankment, upstream slope, water intake culvert, spillway, etc.

Construction of emergency and rescue roads in Do Luong.

Mr. Hoang Van Ba, Director of the Dien Chau District Project Management Board, said: “Besides the Khe Ro reservoir project, also in Dien Lam district, the Provincial People's Committee has approved the project to repair and upgrade Bau Gao and Khe Truong reservoirs; and construct the Bau dam in Dien Phu commune. However, the Bau Gao reservoir project has not been implemented by the contractor due to insufficient allocated funds (currently, the Provincial People's Committee has only allocated 3 billion VND for the Bau Gao and Khe Ro reservoir projects, while the total project cost is 25 billion VND). The Khe Truong reservoir project will provide irrigation water for 20 hectares of rice and 15 hectares of other crops with a total investment of over 8.6 billion VND, but only 1.5 billion VND has been allocated so far.”

Regarding the system of rescue and relief routes and main traffic arteries in the district, in the southern area, such as the Dien Trung - Dien Phu - Dien Loi rescue and relief route, 8 km of the roadbed and some structures along the route have been completed. The Dien Thinh - Dien Tho - Dien Loi routes have had damaged sections repaired in 2011 and 2012, facilitating travel for the people, especially for rescue operations during the rainy season. In the central and northern areas, Route 205, a Class V road connecting National Highway 7 to National Highway 48, has been completed, and construction of a bridge over the Bung River in Dien Quang commune is underway. The Dien Hai to Dien Thinh rescue and relief route has completed over 3 km of road and roadbed sections through Dien Quang and Dien Tan communes…

Speaking with us, Mr. Chu The Huyen, Chairman of the District People's Committee, said: “The district is actively urging investors, project management boards, and contractors to take advantage of favorable weather conditions to accelerate the construction and repair of projects. Especially for the upgrading of Khe Ro and Khe Truong reservoirs, ensuring the completion of culverts, dams, and spillways to ensure safe water storage during the 2015 rainy season. We are inspecting the current state of infrastructure systems before the rainy season, especially key reservoir and dam projects, flood drainage culverts, river dikes, and sea dikes; and accelerating the progress of remaining river mouth dike repair and upgrading projects to ensure flood safety before August 30, 2015. We are directing the People's Committees of communes to strengthen inspections and clear trees and structures within the dike corridors and drainage corridors: the Kim - Hai - Hung and Trung - Thinh - Thanh sea dikes; the Son Tinh and Nha Le drainage canals…”.

To effectively respond to the rainy season and floods, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is also focusing on accelerating the construction progress of several flood bypass and rescue routes. A prime example is the project to reinforce and upgrade the Ta Lam dike section from Nam Dan to Rao Dung, passing through the districts of Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc, and Vinh City. This project is managed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, funded by the central government budget under the Climate Change Response Program (SP-RCC program), local budget, and other legally mobilized capital sources. The project aims to ensure the stability of the Ta Lam dike against floods from the Lam River, protecting nearly 800,000 people and nearly 60,000 hectares of residential and agricultural land, as well as infrastructure in the protected area, especially Vinh City. In addition, the project also aims to prevent erosion of the Lam River banks, stabilizing the Ta Lam dike and ensuring the safety of lives and property for people along both banks of the Lam River. The project, undertaken by a consortium of five contractors, has now largely completed the paving of the embankment slopes and is currently constructing structures on the embankment itself.

Simultaneously, the Provincial Department of Dike Management and Flood Control is directly supervising the construction of the rescue and relief road in Hung Nguyen district, passing through Hung Lam, Hung Nhan, and Hung Xuan communes. This project is part of Component 4 of the Disaster Management Project (WB5) and the rescue and relief road project in Do Luong district. The flood bypass and rescue road, passing through Thai Son and Minh Son communes (Do Luong district), has a total length of 5.7 km and is being urgently constructed using government funds. The road is being built according to rural road standard type A, with the basic alignment following the old route, only making localized adjustments to ensure technical requirements and safe traffic visibility at points with curves and narrow bends.

Despite only starting construction in May 2015 and facing funding challenges, the contractor, Hoang Son Co., Ltd., has now completed the road and accelerated the progress of other components. This is a vital road during the rainy season, providing an opportunity for local residents to avoid flood damage and opening up avenues for socio-economic development. Mr. Nguyen Thai Tuan, from Thai Son commune, stated: “When the government built this flood-avoidance and rescue road, the people here wholeheartedly supported it. It's a crucial road, not only helping people travel and avoid floods during the rainy season but also facilitating trade between other communes.”

A current problem is that projects are facing difficulties in land clearance (such as the project to reinforce and upgrade the Ta Lam dike section from Nam Dan to Rao Dung), coupled with untimely allocation of funds, while construction progress is urgently required. Many contractors have to invest capital upfront to meet deadlines but also encounter considerable difficulties after balancing construction costs. Therefore, finding solutions to overcome the difficulties in funding is the desire of contractors and investors to accelerate the progress of current flood control projects.

Thu Huyen