The government’s flagship program to fight poverty in remote areas of the country has suffered because of poor management and mismanagement of funds, a senior official has said.

However, said Le Minh Khai, deputy general director of the State Audit Office, most of the provinces targeted in the program have not built up regulations to manage the funds disbursed under the program.

As a result, many local projects have been ineffective, Khai told a press conference in Hanoi Thursday, citing a few instances.

In Moc Chau District of the northern Son La Province, officials assigned to assist the program took over construction works when they were not authorized to do so.

Managers of another construction project in Yen Bai Province sold the materials and pocketed the money, while officials of another project in northern Phu Tho Province were involved in fraudulent activities.

A cattle farming project in the central highlands Kon Tum Province has seen 20-33 percent of the animals die, while a banana cultivation project in Phu Tho failed because it started in the wrong season, Khai said.

He also noted that many construction works included in the program were finished in 2005 and 2006 but had yet to be put into use in 2007.

At the same time, Khai said, the program’s traffic and irrigation works implemented in 2007 have done well, making it easier for locals to travel, transport their goods, and source water for their household and farming activities.

The budget approved for the second phase of the program – from 2006 to 2010 – is VND16 trillion (US$951 million), of which VND1.5 trillion ($89 million) was disbursed in 2007.

Last year, the World Bank approved a $50 million interest-free loan to support the second phase of Program 135, which has provided thousands of communes with tailored assistance over the past 10 years.

Reported by Thanh Phong