Directive No. 17/2000/CT-TTg on measures to counter flooding in the Mekong Delta

DIRECTIVE OF THE PRIME MINISTER

On Dealing with Floods in the Mekong Delta

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The flood in 2000 arrived nearly one month earlier than usual, rising quickly with high water levels causing severe flooding for several days in upstream provinces such as Long An, Dong Thap, An Giang, and Kien Giang, resulting in significant damage to summer-autumn rice crops, roads, schools, and houses, affecting production and living conditions in the region.

According to the forecast of the General Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the flood in the Mekong Delta is currently continuing to rise rapidly and is expected to reach its peak within 5 to 10 days. The peak level may be equivalent to that of the flood in 1961, with a wider inundation area compared to the floods in 1978 and 1996. The high peak and extensive inundation areas are likely to persist for several more days. In light of this situation, the Prime Minister instructs ministries, sectors, and People's Committees of provinces in the Mekong Delta to urgently implement the following actions: I. PEOPLE'S COMMITTEES OF PROVINCES IN THE MEKONG DELTA

1. Must urgently supplement measures to deal with large-scale, widespread, and prolonged floods, ensuring rescue and relief plans are very specific. The top priority is to ensure the safety of people's lives, considering this as the most important political task of the Party and government at all levels in the Mekong Delta flood-prone areas.

2. Concentrate forces and means to immediately evacuate people from areas severely flooded and at risk of landslides to safe locations; encourage and, if necessary, forcibly evacuate people to ensure their safety, especially the elderly and children; simultaneously, measures must be taken to stabilize the lives of evacuated residents and protect their property during evacuation.

3. Immediately organize assistance for poor residents in flooded areas facing severe difficulties, including those who have come from other regions to work and live there. Resolutely prevent hunger and death due to starvation, ensuring sufficient medicine for disease prevention and treatment, limiting outbreaks of diseases, particularly after the flood recedes. Ensure timely, accurate, and transparent relief efforts, avoiding waste and corruption..

4. Provinces must organize emergency rescue teams at the district, commune, ward, and critical areas; assign command, guidance, and prompt handling of the worst-case scenarios. Ensure sufficient shock troops and rescue equipment.

5. Forces of Military Region 7, Military Region 9, and Border Guard units must closely cooperate with localities in rescue and evacuation operations, promptly organizing assistance for the people.

6. Health services must take concrete measures to care for people's health, accurately tracking the number of sick individuals and pregnant women in each locality to provide timely support. Develop plans to address hygiene and disease prevention issues (such as digestive diseases, eye infections, skin diseases...), manage drinking water sources and environmental sanitation, and proactively extinguish outbreaks as soon as they are detected.

7. In areas with deep flooding where school attendance is unsafe, students should be allowed to take time off, but plans for make-up classes must be made to ensure the curriculum, teaching quality, and learning outcomes.

8. Local authorities at all levels must cooperate with the Fatherland Front and mass organizations to continue mobilizing the people to help each other with a spirit of mutual aid to overcome difficulties and disasters.

9. Provinces must proactively build embankments to protect fruit-growing areas; develop plans to protect warehouses, materials, goods, and people's properties, striving to minimize losses caused by floods. Provinces downstream must proactively prepare and develop plans to counteract high floods that may persist for several days.

10. Alongside dealing with floods, provinces must prepare plans for winter-spring crop production, restore damaged infrastructure and urgent welfare facilities to serve production and rebuild houses, schools, and clinics to quickly stabilize production and living conditions when the water recedes.

11. People's Committees of provinces must coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to review and supplement economic and social development planning throughout the province and in each locality, particularly detailed planning for residential clusters and streets, to appropriately invest and strive to ensure that residents in flood-prone areas can coexist with floods, stabilize, and sustainably develop within a few years.

II. MINISTRIES AND SECTORS AT THE CENTRAL LEVEL AND LOCALITIES TO HANDLE CERTAIN MATTERS AFTER THE FLOOD RECESSES

1. The Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance must plan capital allocation to restore damaged infrastructure.

2. The Ministry of Transport must direct units to complete procedures and balance funds within the sector to implement the restoration and upgrading of routes 62, 30, and 91; coordinate with localities to restore and repair rural transportation works.

3. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development must continue completing flood drainage projects to the West Sea, sweetwater retention, and saltwater exclusion projects; study expanding the Hong Nu Canal and Channel 79; direct provincial Departments of Agriculture to prepare sufficient seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation equipment to organize timely winter-spring crop production once the water recedes.

Lead coordination with the Ministries of Transport, Construction, and Fisheries to conduct inspections and evaluations of the effectiveness of infrastructure projects constructed according to Decision No. 99/TTg of the Prime Minister to draw lessons, amend, and supplement them appropriately to maximize benefits and minimize flood-related damages.

4. The Ministry of Construction must assist provinces in reviewing residential cluster and street planning, particularly towns and market towns; assess and draw lessons from house construction on piles and raised foundations to develop comprehensive, effective, and suitable solutions for flood-prone areas; together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Transport, direct localities to review residential area planning, townships, and village centers in deeply flooded areas, adapting plans based on local terrain and geology, such as building embankments, raising foundations, establishing flood-avoidance residential zones along lines or points, and integrating canal excavation for irrigation with residential area construction.

4. The Ministry of Construction assists provinces in reviewing the planning of residential clusters and corridors, particularly towns and market towns; evaluates and draws lessons from house construction on piles and raised foundations to develop complete, effective, and appropriate solutions for flood-prone areas; together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Transport, directs localities to review the planning of residential areas, towns, and market towns in regions with deep flooding, and to develop suitable solutions based on the topography and geology of each area, such as building dikes, raising foundations, or establishing flood-avoidance residential zones along routes or points; coordinates the construction of irrigation canals with the development of residential areas.

5. The Ministry of Finance shall guide the exemption and reduction of taxes for households affected by floods; and plan to use part of the excess revenue from the State budget in 2000 to support the mitigation of flood consequences.

6. The State Bank shall provide guidance on debt moratorium and continued lending to households affected by floods to ensure capital for winter-spring crop production.

7. The Ministries of Education and Training, Health, Science and Technology, and Environment shall develop plans to assist localities in repairing schools, health stations, ensuring students' study schedules, preventing diseases, and maintaining environmental hygiene.

8. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall guide relief efforts for households suffering from hunger, those with victims due to natural disasters, and those who need to evacuate and relocate.

9. The Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control, and the Hydro-Meteorological General Department shall closely monitor the flood situation; forecast, warn, and promptly develop response strategies.

The Ministers of the respective ministries, heads of agencies at ministerial level, and members of the Government, and the Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces in the Mekong Delta Region shall strictly implement this Directive./.