Pay attention to stabilizing the lives of resettled people in hydroelectric projects.

(Baonghean.vn) - This morning, April 9, the Supervisory Delegation of the Provincial People's Council Standing Committee worked with the Provincial People's Committee on the situation and progress of hydropower planning and resettlement in the construction of hydropower projects in Nghe An. Comrade Le Xuan Dai - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee attended the meeting.

The working session had the presence of leaders and representatives of several departments, districts and hydropower companies in the province.

According to the approved plan, Nghe An has 43 hydropower projects with a capacity of 1,324.4 MW. Of which, the national power development plan has 4 hydropower plants, including: Ban Ve, Hua Na, Khe Bo, and Thac Muoi. The national small hydropower plan approved by the Ministry of Industry (now the Ministry of Industry and Trade) includes 18 projects. The small hydropower plan approved by the Provincial People's Committee has 12 projects. In addition, there are 3 other hydropower projects in the province, including: Ban Mong irrigation - hydropower, My Ly hydropower and Nam Mo 1 hydropower.

Currently, in the province, there are 6 projects that have been put into operation, 8 projects are under construction, 5 projects have started construction, 4 projects have been granted investment certificates but have not yet started construction, 3 projects have not yet been granted investment certificates. According to the expected progress of power generation, in the period of 2013-2015, there will be 10 more projects put into operation and in the period of 2015-2020, there will be 9 projects put into operation. By 2012, the projects have provided the national power system with an output of 1.39 billion kWh. With the above implementation roadmap, the expected budget revenue from taxes on power source projects is 301 billion VND/year and the forestation fund is 66.5 billion VND/year.

However, the current problem is that some projects have been granted investment certificates but are being implemented slowly or not yet. There are 6 projects that are behind schedule, the Provincial People's Committee has revoked the investment certificates and canceled the related legal documents. Some projects have been implemented but the progress is still slow. In addition, the compensation work for land acquisition and clearance is not achieved, affecting many projects. The implementation of resettlement projects is slow, the stabilization of people's lives is not effective, leading to difficulties in life in resettlement areas.

Speaking at the meeting, comrade Le Xuan Dai said that for the projects that have been implemented, the province is actively directing investors to speed up the construction progress to complete them on schedule. The province has withdrawn the investment certificates of some projects, and some other projects are being extended for another year. If they are not implemented, the province will resolutely stop them. In addition, the Provincial People's Committee will review small hydropower projects and propose to the Government to assign the responsibility of investors to allocate a part of the revenue from hydropower to reinvest in stabilizing the lives of resettled people. For large hydropower projects such as Ban Ve and Hua Na, there needs to be a post-resettlement project to stabilize the lives of the people.

Concluding the working session, Comrade Dinh Thi Le Thanh - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council suggested that the province should review and supplement the hydropower planning towards harmonious development; direct the sectors to coordinate with investors to solve some urgent problems in resettlement areas. Pay attention to implementing economic models in resettlement areas to speed up the process of stabilizing people's lives. Investors, in addition to focusing on performing the work according to regulations, need to accompany the province to stabilize the lives of resettled people.

Thanh Duy