Resettled households supported with $8.8 million
HA NOI (VNS)– Up to 10,000 households resettled from the site of the Son La hydro-electricity plant have been supported to the tune of VND185 billion (US$8.8 million) to help defray agricultural production expenses.
The fund is reportedly backed by northern Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau provinces which have received the households. Son La took the lead with VND130 billion (nearly $6.3 million).
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said most of the households grew maize, cassava, arrowroot, soy, tea, coffee, and rubber trees, and raised pigs, chicken, buffaloes and cows. They have been resettled about 24,000ha of agricultural land, or 0.82-2.25ha each.
Training has been offered to help the families improve their living standards. Thousands of farmers have attended farm training courses to boost their production.
In addition, about 4,000 households have been shown new methods in planting rubber, which is expected to help them create more jobs and increase incomes.
It was reported that VND14.2 billion ($700,000) had been spent to compensate and resettle households from the plant construction site, reaching 95 per cent of the plan.
Son La hydro-electricity plant will be the nation's biggest when it officially comes into operation at the end of this year. It was built in 2005 and displaced of tens of thousands of people, the largest single resettlement in the country's history. It's expected to add about 10.2 billion kWh to the national grid each year. — VNS