LookAtVietnam – A lack of capital for landslide prevention projects funded by the HCM City People’s Committee is putting residents under threat.

Workers of Than Thanh Joint Stock Company complete parts of a landslide prevention project.

And while residents are facing great danger, embankment reinforcement projects to prevent landslides in those areas are behind schedule, said Le Hoang Minh, director of the Riverway Section.

Minh said the section, the main investor in the work, did not have the capital to pay contractors.

Minh said the local authority had authorised 21 landslide prevention projects. Of those, one project was completed earlier this year, two others are in progress, six have yet to get underway and 12 are awaiting investment.

Furthermore, contractors are still owed VND7 billion (US$390,000) for the completed project on Thanh Da Canal, Minh said.

Of the two on-going projects launched last December, one is in the area of Phuoc Long Bridge in Phuoc Kieng Commune and the other is close to Rach Tom Bridge in Nhon Duc Commune in Nha Be District.

The work is scheduled to be completed at the end of this year. So far, 45 per cent of the work has been done, but work is progressing slowly because of a lack of capital, Minh said.

The necessary investment for the three projects, plus four more planned projects is VND115 billion ($6.4 million), but only VND10 billion ($555,000) has been raised.

Minh said the HCM City People’s Committee had yet to meet the shortfall because of spending caps.

“We are calling for contractors to spend [their own money] in order to continue the projects, but the possibility is low in this context,” Minh said, adding that if no more capital is forthcoming the work would have to stop.

Minh added that other departments were also strapped for cash.

“The city’s relevant bodies also lack capital and equipment,” he said.

It is now up to the contractors themselves to decide whether to continue the work, Minh said.

Meanwhile, residents are still living in fear.

Nguyen Ngoc Tinh, who lives in Village 3 in Nhon Duc Commune, Nha Be District, said that several neighbours were forced to abandon their houses because of landslides.

People living in these areas are mostly poor families, thus, they have to live in boarding houses, Tinh said.

“We are all worried and want the landslide prevention projects to be finished soon,” he said.

Currently, HCM City has 62 locations at high risk of landslides, mainly in Binh Chanh, Can Gio, Nha Be and Binh Thanh districts. Of them, Nha Be District has 26 areas designated prone to landslides with the longest section being 1.7km.

Not prepared

Flood prevention projects in HCM City’s outer suburbs have been suspended until further notice also because of a lack of capital, according to deputy chairman of the city People’s Committee Nguyen Trung Tin.

The suburban district of Hoc Mon last year completed eight of the total 51 flood-prevention projects with local district funding.

For the completed projects, district authorities owe VND19 billion ($1 million ) in debt to contractors.

According to the city’s Department of Planning and Investment, the total unpaid sum for flood prevention projects completed in 2008 has reached VND75 billion ($4.2 million).

The city’s Finance Department has proposed that the administration earmark 50 per cent of the surplus, or VND500 billion, from collection of the land-use rights in 2008 for districts to implement flood-prevention projects.

Major dyke projects that have been funded with foreign official development assistance (ODA) are behind schedule, worsening the problem as the rainy season begins.

Last week, several communes in the suburban district of Cu Chi faced a high risk of landslides and flooding after rains.

In Cu Chi District’s Binh My Commune, erosion of three kilometres of riverbank occurred.

Local residents have complained that floods in recent years were due to delayed construction of a protection dyke along the Sai Gon River.

According to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the city has 12 districts that are regularly flooded because of heavy rains or strong tides.

Municipal authorities are building 103 flood prevention projects with a total cost of VND121.8 billion ($6.8 million).

Over the last five years, only eight districts have completed 54 projects with a total cost of VND75.5 billion.

At least 130 projects remain unfinished in nine other districts.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News