Resettlement of hydroelectric and irrigation projects: New housing must be better than old housing

(Baonghean.vn) -On the morning of May 8, the Provincial People's Committee had a working session with the working delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the implementation of compensation and resettlement support policies for hydropower and irrigation projects in the area. Comrade: Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired.

Attending the working session, on behalf of the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, there were comrade Ho Xuan Hung - former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Advisor to the National Target Program on New Rural Development; representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Finance - Prices, Industry and Trade, Vietnam Electricity Group. Also attending were representatives of leaders of departments, branches, Hydropower Management Board 2; Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company and representatives of leaders of Thanh Chuong, Tuong Duong, Ky Son, Que Phong, Quy Hop districts.

Comrade Ho Xuan Hung - former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Advisor to the National Target Program on New Rural Development spoke at the working session with the Provincial People's Committee.

According to the approved hydropower planning, there are 45 projects in the province with a total capacity of 1,414 MW. Of which, 4 large projects have been completed and are under construction (Ban Ve, Hua Na, Khe Bo, and Ban Mong hydropower plants) requiring resettlement of 6,033 households. Therefore, compensation, support and resettlement work has been given attention by all levels and sectors, so currently most households have stabilized their lives in resettlement areas... However, in the process of resettlement, there are still many difficulties and problems, such as: People's lives have not been improved; Housing is not suitable and the quality of construction is still low, especially the issue of land allocation for production is still lacking and not timely, along with the lack of synchronous investment in technical infrastructure...

Speaking at the meeting, comrade Ho Xuan Hung - Advisor of the National Target Program on New Rural Construction highly appreciated the effectiveness of some hydropower projects in Nghe An and the great efforts in implementing resettlement. However, this work still has some problems that the province and relevant agencies need to promptly overcome, which are reviewing the policy on implementing hydropower investment and resettlement support in the direction of creating conditions for resettled people to have better new places than their old places; Developing a project for stable and long-term economic development for resettled people; Linking resettlement with new rural construction... Some proposals and recommendations of the province on mechanisms and policies to effectively implement resettlement of hydropower and irrigation projects in the province will be studied and resolved appropriately by relevant ministries and branches.

Hoang Vinh