THANH HÓA — The People’s Committee of central Thanh Hóa Province has asked the investor of Hồi Xuân hydropower project to quickly complete the infrastructure of the resettlement area.

This is aimed at facilitating the resettlement process of the affected residents by May.

Lê Anh Tuấn, vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said Hồi Xuân Electric Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company was in the process of completing the construction of the hydropower project and implementing the compensation for site clearance.

The People’s Committee of Quan Hoá District and related agencies have cooperated with the company to secure site clearance and ensure security and order in the project location. However, progress has been slow.

So far, none of the affected households has moved to the Sa Lắng resettlement area.

The provincial committee has assigned the People’s Committee of Quan Hoá District to supervise the quality of the resettlement infrastructure before moving people.

Besides resettlement, Tuấn has asked the project’s investor to speed up the construction process at the plant site, especially the work related to flood prevention preferably before the stormy season starts.

He has also requested the company to invest in construction works that curb the flooding of Hồi Xuân reservoir before June 30.

The Quan Hoá District People’s Committee has instructed the People’s Committees of the concerned communes to coordinate with the investor to determine the location of new schools and medical centres as well as monitor the quality of construction work.

Figures from the committee showed that some 2,350 households in Quan Hóa District were affected by the construction of the hydropower project. Of this, 53 households in Sa Lắng Village in Thanh Xuân Commune were the most affected and needed to be urgently evacuated.

In April 2015, these households were informed to hand over their land to the project investor and move to a resettlement area. However, the construction of the resettlement area was behind schedule, which has delayed the resettlement process.

The Hồi Xuân Hydropower Plant is being constructed in the area between Thanh Xuân and Hồi Xuân communes in Quan Hóa District. The project, with a total investment of VNĐ3.3 trillion (US$144 million), has the designed capacity to produce 102MW of electricity. Its reservoir is spread across seven communes in Quan Hóa District and two communes in Mai Châu District of Hòa Bình Province. — VNS