The Prime Minister directed to focus on preventing and reducing damage caused by landslides, riverbank and coastal erosion and flash floods.

From the beginning of July 2023 to now,landslides, flash floods, riverbank and coastal erosioncontinued to cause serious damage to people's lives, homes, and property; many traffic routes and infrastructure were damaged, causing insecurity among the people, especially in some provinces of the Central Highlands, the Northern mountainous region, and the Mekong Delta.

The Prime Minister requested Ministers, Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities and Heads of relevant agencies to continue to seriously implement Official Dispatch No. 607/CD-TTg dated July 1, 2023; grasp the situation, proactively deploy necessary measures within their authority, ensure timeliness, effectiveness, and suitability to actual local conditions to control and reduce damage caused by landslides, flash floods, riverbank and coastal erosion, including:

1-Chairman of People's Committee of provinces and centrally run cities:

1-1: Immediately implement a number of urgent solutions to ensure the safety of people in areas at high risk of landslides and flash floods.

1- For areas where landslides and flash floods have been detected, we must resolutelyrelocatePeople and property should be evacuated from dangerous areas or there should be proactive plans to ensure safety of life and property, limit damage to people's property, and avoid passive and unexpected situations.

2- Organize support for food, necessities, and accommodation according to regulations to stabilize the lives of households that lost their homes due to landslides, flash floods, or had to relocate to prevent landslides and flash floods, so that people do not go hungry or have no place to live.

3- Continue to organize thorough inspections and timely detection of areas at risk of landslides and flash floods, especially residential areas, schools, offices, barracks, factories, enterprises, etc. Directing the strengthening of propaganda and guidance for people to recognize signs and risks of landslides and flash floods to mobilize people's strength in detecting and reporting areas at risk of landslides and flash floods; providing skills guidance for people to proactively respond to incidents and limit damage, especially needing appropriate and timely forms of propaganda and guidance for people in villages, hamlets, remote areas, border areas, islands, and ethnic minorities.

1-2: In the long run:

1) Strictly control construction planning and construction activities, especially the construction of houses and works in steep terrain areas, along rivers, streams, canals, coastal areas, and areas at risk of geological disasters. Strictly prohibit and strictly handle the cutting down of forests, especially protective forests and special-use forests. Organize the review, inspection, examination, and strict and thorough handling of violations of regulations on land use management; forest management and protection; construction activities (especially illegal construction activities on protective and special-use forest land); illegal exploitation and gathering of minerals in accordance with the law to reduce the risk of natural disasters, limit landslides, flash floods, and inundation.

2) Organize review, direct project development, report to competent authorities to arrange and mobilize resources to implement fundamental, systematic and sustainable projects to prevent and combat landslides, proactively relocate people out of dangerous areas due tonatural disasters, especially areas at high risk of landslides and flash floods.

3. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee is responsible before the Prime Minister and the law if he/she lacks responsibility in leadership and direction, leading to serious damage to people's lives and property.

2.Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment:

2.1. Coordinate with relevant agencies to increase knowledge dissemination, instruct people to recognize risks and signs of possible landslides and flash floods, and response skills to proactively evacuate and relocate before incidents occur, reducing damage.

2.2. Preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies and mobilize experts and scientists to urgently organize research and specifically assess the causes of landslides and risks of geological disasters in the Central Highlands region, proactively inform competent authorities and the people to have appropriate response solutions, avoid panic and insecurity among the people; report the results to the Prime Minister in August 2023.

2.3. Urgently review, update and complete the Project "Early warning of landslides and flash floods in mountainous and midland areas of Vietnam" on the basis of ensuring science, practicality, feasibility and effectiveness, and submit it to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval in August 2023 for early implementation.

3.Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development:

3.1. Direct, inspect and urge localities to deploy security work.construction safetyIrrigation dams, especially key dams and dams that have had incidents during recent floods (such as Dak N'Ting reservoir, Dak Nong province, etc.), should not allow unexpected incidents to occur that cause loss of human life.

3.2. Direct and urge localities to deploy urgent measures to prevent, combat and overcome landslides, ensure safety of life and stabilize people's lives.

4.Ministry of Transport:Continue to direct the review and inspection of traffic routes, especially in mountainous areas, the Northern midlands, the Central region, the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta; promptly detect areas at risk of landslides and deep flooding to have proactive plans to ensure traffic and traffic safety, especially on highways, national highways and main traffic routes. Proactively coordinate and support localities to overcome landslide incidents on main traffic routes.

5Ministry of Industry and Trade, State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group, Vietnam Electricity Group:Based on assigned functions, tasks and powers, proactively direct and deploy landslide prevention and control work, ensuring safety for forces and works under the management of the industry, especially hydroelectric dams, power supply and transmission systems.

6Vietnam Television, Voice of Vietnam, Vietnam News Agency and other mass media agenciesCentral and local authorities continue to coordinate with ministries, branches and localities to strengthen legal propaganda, disseminate knowledge, and guide people on recognition and response skills, minimizing damage caused by landslides.

7.National Committee for Incident Response, Natural Disasters and Search and Rescue, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security:Based on assigned functions, tasks and powers, closely monitor incidents, natural disasters and landslides, proactively direct, coordinate and support localities in deploying timely and effective response and search and rescue work when there are situations as requested by localities.

8. Ministries, branches and localities shall proactively grasp the situation, direct, deploy and handle landslides according to their assigned functions, tasks and powers; promptly report and propose to competent authorities to direct the handling of issues beyond their authority.

9National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and ControlClosely monitor natural disaster situations, proactively direct, inspect, and urge localities to deploy prevention, control, and overcoming of consequences according to assigned functions, tasks, and powers.

The Government Office is assigned to monitor and urge relevant ministries, agencies and localities to implement this Official Dispatch, and promptly report to the Prime Minister any problems and difficulties in the implementation process.