An erosion prevention embankment is built in the Mũi Rãnh coast in the southern province of Kiên Giang’s An Biên District. — VNA/VNS Photo Lê Huy Hải

KIÊN GIANG  — The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Kiên Giang is stepping up efforts to complete treating erosion along coastal areas by 2025.

It also aims to complete building 90 per cent of coastal erosion prevention projects by 2025 and this will basically prevent coastal erosion which affects directly households, infrastructure and protective forests.

It plans to build about 18 coastal erosion prevention projects for a total of VNĐ2.5 trillion (US$105 million) in 2021-25.

It also plans to grow new forests and renovate protective forests with a combined area of 646ha during the period.

It has implemented eight embankment projects since 2021 with a total length of 45km that prevent the impact of sea waves, create mud flats for growing forests and prevent erosion, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The eight projects cost more than VNĐ1 trillion ($42 million) and are located mostly in Hòn Đất, An Biên and An Minh districts.

Of the eight projects, six have been completed and two are under construction.

About 100km of the province’s 200km coastline are seriously eroded, affecting agricultural production, property and the lives of local people, according to local authorities.

The Kim Quy -Tiểu Dừa coastal section in An Minh District’s Vân Khánh and Vân Khánh Tây communes is one of the most eroded sections in the province.

Nguyễn Thanh Điền, deputy head of the An Minh Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development, said climate change and sea levels rising had become more complicated and had caused serious coastal erosion in the district, especially in Kim Quy estuary, in past years.

The province and the Government had built an erosion prevention embankment project in Kim Quy-Tiểu Dừa coastal section, created mud flats and planted protective forests in the section.

The project had helped protect residential areas and the environment in coastal communes.

Võ Thanh Tùng, a local in Vân Khánh Commune, said before the embankment was built, erosion occurred in the rainy season, damaging land and houses.

Of An Minh’s 37km coastline, 27km have built erosion prevention embankments and the rest is being built, according to the district’s Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The embankments have helped prevent erosion, created mud flats to grow protective forests, and stabilised livelihoods for locals and their agricultural production.

The district planted 139ha of protective forests last year and is implementing more forest growing projects.

It has encouraged households that are allocated forests to protect and exploit their resources to grow forest trees and renovate allocated forests as regulated.

The province People’s Committee has asked relevant departments, agencies and localities to take proactive measures to prevent and control erosion during the ongoing rainy season to protect the property and safety of local people.

It has ordered localities to check all erosion-prone areas and set up plans to relocate people in these areas to safe ones.

The province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in co-operation with local radio, television and media agencies, will spread information about regulations on preventing and controlling natural disasters and erosion to the public and guide them on skills of coping with erosion.

It will urge localities to implement urgent erosion prevention measures and projects in 2021-25 and step up growing mangrove forests in coastal areas to prevent erosion. — VNS