Strive to complete resettlement of Hua Na Hydropower Plant by the end of May 2012

(Baonghean) - On the afternoon of November 30, at the Hua Na Hydropower Management Board, comrade Le Xuan Dai - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee had a working session with the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) to inspect the progress of the Hua Na Hydropower project in Que Phong district.

Attending the meeting were Mr. Do Van Hau - General Director of PVN; Department of Industry and Trade, Provincial People's Committee Office, Provincial Border Guard Command; Que Phong District Party Committee, People's Committee; members of the interdisciplinary working group supporting compensation and site clearance for Hua Na hydropower project.

Hua Na Hydropower Project in Dong Van Commune (Que Phong) was started in 2008. The project has a total initial approved investment capital of nearly 5 trillion VND, invested by Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company, with a designed capacity of 180MW, will provide an average electricity output of about 716.9 million kWh/year, while regulating the flow of the Chu River, contributing to flood prevention downstream.

Comrade Le Xuan Dai delivered a concluding speech at the meeting.

To implement this project, more than 4,700 people of 1,331 households in 14 villages of Dong Van and Thong Thu communes (Que Phong) must relocate to new residences in 16 resettlement areas. Currently, the Compensation and Support Council of Que Phong district has conducted the pricing, completed and publicly organized the compensation and support plan for 14/14 villages in the reservoir area. The Council has approved the compensation and support plan for site clearance for 3 villages in the reservoir area including: Huoi Muong, Nong Danh, Pieng Pung villages in Thong Thu commune and the remaining 11 villages will be relocated and handed over the site before May 2012.

At the meeting, Mr. Do Van Hau - General Director of PVN affirmed PVN's determination to ensure conditions for Hua Na Hydropower Plant to generate electricity from Unit 1 in October 2012 and Unit 2 in December 2012.

After listening to the opinions of PVN representatives, Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company, contractors, and Que Phong District People's Committee, comrade Le Xuan Dai concluded: The investor needs to speed up the progress of resettlement areas for people to relocate, must ensure the quality of the works, ensure domestic water, and production land in the resettlement areas. Que Phong District needs to carefully consider the capacity of contractors during the construction of resettlement areas, and at the same time, Hua Na Hydropower Company must provide timely capital for contractors to construct the works; Before Tet, the investor must pay compensation to people in the reservoir areas so that people can feel secure to move to the resettlement areas. As for Nghe An province, the province committed to completing Tay Nghe An road on schedule to ensure the transportation of super-sized and super-heavy equipment for the construction of the project.

Nguyen Thanh Duy