Vietnam to spend $1b on 840km of sea dykes

Vietnam News 30 May 09;

HA NOI — The Viet Nam Government provided an estimated VND19.5 trillion (more than US$1 billion) to build 840km of sea dykes from central Quang Ngai Province to southern Kien Giang Province.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has signed Decision 667 for the building of the network in anticipation of rising sea levels as the climate changes.

The system of 54 dykes will be designed to protect the coast from water and flooding.

Preserving ecology

The dykes are also intended to ensure the safety of coastal residents; boost their economies and preserve the coastal ecology.

The primary purpose of the system is to shield the coast from rising sea levels and the adverse effects of climate change but it will also help shape a transport route for socio-economic development and defence.

The project from now to 2020 will be in three phases. The focus of the first four years will be the planting of trees and earthworks for the entire system.

The dykes and roads will be reinforced during the second four years with bridges, sluice gates, roads and work to finish the dykes done from 2017 to 2020.

About $56 million will be provided to get the work started this year.

Southern Water Resource Institute director Le Manh Hung said the target was for 518km of sea dykes and 326 estuary dykes.

Many existing dykes were incapable of preventing or controlling the damage wrought by natural calamities, he said.

The result was huge losses for localities hit by high tides and storms.

Bridges and sluice gates were also lacking so that the reinforcement of the dykes was crucial and urgent, Hung said. — VNS