Submit to the National Assembly to change the purpose of using 1,000 hectares of forest for 2 reservoir projects in Nghe An and Ninh Thuan

On the morning of November 2, at the 10th Session of the 14th National Assembly, on behalf of the Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong presented a summary report on the proposal to change the purpose of forest use to implement the Song Than Reservoir Project in Ninh Thuan Province and the Ban Mong Reservoir Project in Nghe An Province.

Of which, the Song Than Reservoir Project was first approved by the Ninh Thuan Provincial People's Committee in May 2010 with a total investment of VND 716,587 billion; land use area of ​​801.15 hectares. However, the project had to be temporarily suspended due to difficulties in capital sources.

In the second approval decision in 2017, the land use area of ​​Song Than Lake was adjusted to 1,011.86 ha. Of which, the forested land area is 576.69 ha, including 6.88 ha for protection, 514.55 ha for production, and 55.26 ha outside the forestry planning. The project started construction in July 2018 and has so far completed about 35% of the work.

In 2019, the People's Committee of Ninh Thuan province adjusted the area of ​​forest converted to a reduced use purpose to 431.76 hectares. After updating the land use area, the Song Than Reservoir Project is a national important project and the authority to decide on the policy of converting the purpose of forest use belongs to the National Assembly. The Government proposed that the National Assembly consider and decide on the policy of converting the purpose of forest use of 431.76 hectares (including 100.63 hectares of protection forest; 309.48 hectares of production forest; and the area taken out of the planning of 3 types of forest of 21.65 hectares) to implement the Song Than Reservoir Project, Ninh Thuan province.

Headworks of Ban Mong Reservoir Project. Photo: Pham Bang

With the Ban Mong Reservoir Project, the Prime Minister permitted investment in Document No. 154/TTg-NN dated January 20, 2006; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development approved the investment project in 2009, and construction began in 2010, but in 2011 the project was suspended due to Directive No. 1792/CT-TTg. In 2017, the project was re-allocated capital in the medium term of 2016-2020 to continue implementation. To date, the project has completed about 90% of the construction work; the cumulative disbursement to date has reached 83% and it is expected that by the end of 2020, phase I will be basically completed.

In the first approval decision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2009, the total land area occupied by the project was 5,259.30 ha, of which, protective forest land was 94.0 ha; production forest land was 671.10 ha. In 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development approved the project adjustment and in 2019, the People's Committees of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces determined the proposed area for forest use purpose change to be 1,131.22 ha (Nghe An 544.77 ha, Thanh Hoa 586.45 ha). Of which, upstream protection forest: 312.95 ha; production forest: 661.08 ha; forest outside the forestry planning: 157.19 ha.

According to the report of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee and Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, the area of ​​natural forest to be converted is 662.55 hectares, all of which are poor and exhausted forests; the location of the natural forest to be converted for the project is mandatory to ensure the effectiveness of the project investment.

The Government proposed that the National Assembly consider deciding on the policy of changing the purpose of use of 1,131.22 hectares of forest land in the two provinces of Nghe An (544.77 hectares) and Thanh Hoa (586.45 hectares), including: 312.95 hectares of protection forest, 661.08 hectares of production forest and 157.19 hectares of forest outside the forestry planning to implement the Ban Mong Reservoir Project, Nghe An province.