Early detection of violations, taking prevention as the main focus in managing level III and above dykes

On the morning of June 5, in Cua Lo commune (Nghe An), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a conference with the chairmen of district-level People's Committees of provinces and cities nationwide with dykes from level III to special level in 2023.

Comrade Nguyen Hoang Hiep - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Deputy Head of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Search and Rescue; Comrade Nguyen Van De - Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee co-chaired the conference. Also attending were representatives of departments and offices under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; leaders of People's Committees of districts, cities and towns nationwide with level III or higher dykes.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep gave a speech at the conference. Photo: Organizing Committee

At the conference, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported on the situation of natural disaster prevention and control, dike management in 2022 and the first 6 months of 2023; key tasks of the Chairman of the District People's Committee in the last 6 months of the year. Accordingly, the management of level III and above dikes must be stable, without unexpected and serious situations.

However, because the dike system, especially district-level dikes, has been invested in for a long time and investment resources are limited, investment in upgrading still has many shortcomings, and the risk of landslides and encroachment is still high.

At the conference, many localities presented the results of investment and dike renovation in their localities in recent times; at the same time, they identified shortcomings and inadequacies in natural disaster prevention and dike management, exchanged experiences and proposed solutions.

The comrades chaired the conference. Photo: Organizing Committee

Opinions emphasized that each locality has different ways of doing things, but in general, there are still difficulties; through the commitment to mobilize the state and people to work together, localities requested that the province and the Central Government pay attention to investing and providing additional support.

At the conference, representatives of the Nghe An Dike Management and Disaster Prevention Department also gave a speech on the results and experience of dike maintenance in recent times.

Accordingly, along with advising the Provincial People's Council to issue a separate Resolution on annual maintenance of dykes in the area, the province also utilizes and integrates resources to harden dykes, coastal embankments, and river dykes. On average, each year, Nghe An province's budget spends over 22 billion VND on dyke maintenance and repair.

Comrade Nguyen Van De - Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee spoke at the conference. Photo: Organizing Committee

However, due to its large natural area and steep and complex terrain, Nghe An has over 80 km of coastline, so the management and investment in upgrading sea dykes and river dykes in the estuary area in the context of natural disasters, climate change, saltwater intrusion, and rising sea levels are increasingly difficult. The role of the District People's Committee Chairman in managing dykes is quite large, but resources are limited, and handling violations is difficult...

At this conference, delegates also heard forecasts on trends and developments of natural disasters, storms and floods in the last months of 2023; discussed experiences in handling cases of violations of the law on dikes in Thai Binh; lessons learned on force building.District-level disaster prevention and control campaign in Hung Nguyen(Nghe An); improve the quality of management work, assess the current status of dikes, develop dike protection plans, protect key dike areas and respond to major floods in Hai Duong...

Concluding the conference, based on the opinions of localities and the district-level dyke management department, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep requested localities to implement contents to raise awareness for district-level People's Committee chairmen. The Law on Dyke Management clearly stipulates responsibilities in case of dam and dyke breaches, so localities must thoroughly understand this spirit to have appropriate solutions; must start from changing awareness and having appropriate investment and support policies and mechanisms.

It is recommended that the General Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control collect recommendations from localities to review and develop appropriate investment policies and mechanisms; and use the Natural Disaster Prevention Fund reasonably for investment and upgrading of dykes. There are still 6,000 km of dykes above level III in 21 provinces nationwide that have not been adequately invested in and upgraded, so localities need to pay attention.

In addition to new investment, it is necessary to allocate funds for regular maintenance and repair; continue to focus on the "4 on-site" motto in natural disaster prevention, in which the most important thing is that on-site command is the key to other plans and mottos; strengthen patrols and controls to detect violations early, taking prevention as the main thing and better than prevention.

(Excerpt from the directive speech of Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep)