CÀ MAU — Natural disasters have cost the northern province of Cà Mau VNĐ1.427 trillion (US$63 million) this year, according to the provincial People’s Committee.

As much as 99 per cent of the loss Cà Mau incurred was on account of drought and saltwater intrusion, the committee stated in a report released this week.

Natural disasters damaged 53,000 hectares of paddy fields and 158,000 hectares of aquaculture land, Lâm Văn Bi, vice chairman of the committee, said. It caused landslides and subsidence on 112km of roads and 4,700m of riparian areas.

The calamities had led to shortage of domestic water in 12,000 households, sunk 25 fishing boats and damaged 340 houses, he added.

The committee’s chairman declared disaster level 1 (low risk) for the loss of rice and level 2 (average risk) for the loss of shrimps. Officials are employing different solutions to help local residents stabilise their lives. 

A total compensation of VNĐ86 billion ($3.8 million) has been provided for households whose paddy fields had been destroyed.

Trần Văn Thiện, a farmer from the province’s U Minh District, said he felt “reassured” by the compensation. He incurred a loss of VNĐ10 million ($441) after drought ruined his three-hectare paddy field. 

It was not as easy to apply the compensation policy to households that suffered losses related to aquaculture, officials said. Most households did not qualify for compensation as they had not declared their production in the first place.

Apart from the compensation, the province spent VNĐ8 billion ($351.700) upgrading several water supply constructions and water storage tanks. Tens of billions of dong were also spent on fixing damaged roads, officials said. — VNS