Urgently complete the dossier for converting forest use purposes to implement the Ban Mong Reservoir Project.

On the morning of September 11, the Provincial People's Committee had a working session with a delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to listen to and give opinions on the implementation of procedures related to the conversion of forest use purposes for the Ban Mong Reservoir Project. Photo: Pham Bang

Comrade Ha Cong Tuan - Permanent Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was the head of the delegation. Also attending was comrade Ho Xuan Hung - former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Working with the delegation on the side of Nghe An province were comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, Natural Resources and Environment, Planning and Investment, Justice and the districts of Quy Hop, Nghia Dan, Quy Chau.

Ban Mong Reservoir Projectlocated in Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces. The project consists of 4 components. According to the design, the flooded area of ​​the reservoir is determined at elevation +76.4m.

After blocking water and building the main Ban Mong dam irrigation system in Nghe An province, part of the forest area will be affected.forestry landand other types of land of 3 districts and 7 communes and towns: Nghia Dan district (Nghia Mai commune), Quy Hop district (Yen Hop commune), Quy Chau district (Tan Lac town, Chau Hanh commune, Chau Hoi commune, Chau Nga commune, Chau Binh commune) and in Thanh Hoa province are the communes: Xuan Hoa, Thanh Hoa of Nhu Xuan district.

Mr. Nguyen Van De - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An province reported on the implementation of the dossier on converting forest use purposes at the project. Photo: Pham Bang

The total forest area to be converted is 1,131.23 ha (Nghe An: 544.78 ha; Thanh Hoa: 586.45 ha). Including: 316.19 ha of protective forest; 679.5 ha of production forest and 135.53 ha of forest outside the forestry planning.

In order to implement the policy of requesting to change the purpose of forest use to implement the project, Nghe An province has completed the relevant documents and procedures. At the same time, it established a Council to appraise the documents to submit the policy of changing the purpose of forest use to other purposes to implement the Ban Mong Reservoir Project.

After appraisal, the Council requested further clarification of the project's suitability for the planning and forest use plan; Clarifying the land use origin of 135.53 hectares of forest outside the planning.

The Ban Mong Reservoir Project is expected to complete the construction of the headwaters and 8 pumping stations by the end of 2020. Photo courtesy

For Thanh Hoa province, the Provincial People's Committee has assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to preside over the appraisal of the dossier on the policy of converting forest use purposes to implement the Ban Mong Reservoir Project. However, the appraisal work has not been completed yet, because many departments and branches have not yet given their opinions.

According to the People's Committee of Nghe An province, the biggest problem in the dossier submitted under Decree No. 83/ND-CP dated July 15, 2020 of the Government is the content "Conformity with planning and land use plans in the two provinces of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa". In Nghe An, the data on the water level elevation and the data on the project's proposed forest conversion are not consistent.

Besides, Ban Mong Reservoir Project is not yet on the list of works and projects implemented in the period of 2016 - 2020 of Thanh Hoa province approved by the Government.

Comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee hopes that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will support and help the province to complete the dossier on schedule. Photo: Pham Bang

At the working session, members of the working delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development contributed and exchanged many opinions on the work of building the province's dossier, and at the same time requested Nghe An province to urgently complete the dossier and procedures, because there is not much time left to complete the implementation.

Concluding the meeting, Permanent Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan said that this is an urgent project. If it is not implemented on schedule, it will cause waste and affect people's trust.

At the same time, if the dossier on converting the project's forest use purpose is not approved by the National Assembly at the upcoming session in October 2020, the additional capital for phase 1 will be very difficult; at the same time, it will affect the results.public investment disbursement.

Permanent Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan speaks at the meeting. Photo: Pham Bang

Faced with the above reality, the Permanent Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development requested Nghe An province to speed up the site clearance work in the spirit of the current status, the scope of review is the entire project, not only for phase 1 but also phase 2, including the forest area in the planning and taken out of the planning.

At the same time, Nghe An province must coordinate more closely with Thanh Hoa province to complete the dossier soon; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will urge and support the two provinces. This work must be completed soon, before submitting to the National Assembly at the upcoming session.