The Prime Minister has agreed to allocate 150.6 billion VND (7.2 million USD) from the budget reserves fund to eight localities and three irrigation companies in order to tackle the consequences of the drought and saltwater intrusion that occurred during the 2014-2015 spring-winter crop.

Beneficiary provinces are Son La in the north which receives 13.1 billion VND, the central provinces of Nghe An (23 billion VND), Ha Tinh (12.7 billion VND), Quang Ngai (8.2 billion VND), Dak Nong in the Central Highlands (23.5 billion VND), and the southern provinces of Hau Giang (8.3 billion VND), Bac Lieu (14.8 billion VND) and Ca Mau (14 billion VND).

The three companies are Bac Hung Hai, Bac Nam Ha and Dau Tieng-Phuoc Hoa, of which the Bac Hung Hai and Bac Nam Ha serve the northern delta region while the Dau Tieng-Phuoc Hoa operates in the southern region.

MARD and the relevant provincial People’s Committees are responsible for supervising the disbursement of funds.

The PM called upon local authorities to proactively use their local budgets and other legitimate sources of income in combination with the money granted by the central budget in order to cope with the consequences effectively.

In May the PM agreed to allocate nearly 493 billion VND (23.1 million USD) from the 2015 State budget to 36 drought-hit localities.

According to predictions made by the National Hydro-Meteorology Service, Vietnam will experience extreme weather conditions in 2015, especially heat waves and droughts.

In the early months of 2015, many provinces were affected by serious drought, mostly in the southern central provinces.

VNA