HÀ NỘI – Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc chaired a meeting on Thursday on housing assistance for people affected by flash floods and landslides nationwide, stressing that helping the victims to rebuild their homes is an urgent task. 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that natural disasters have been very serious in recent years with flash floods, landslides and riverbank and coastal erosion on the rise, causing heavy human and property losses. 
In 2017, severe flash floods and landslides occurred in Mường La District in Sơn La Province; Mù Căng Chải District in Yên Bái Province; Tân Lạc and Đà Bắc districts and Hòa Bình City in Hòa Bình Province; Bắc Trà My and Nam Trà My districts in Quảng Nam Province; and Chợ Mới District in An Giang Province. More than 4,100 houses collapsed or were washed away due to the natural disasters, while almost 13,250 households currently reside in landslide-prone areas. 
Since the beginning of 2018, over 1,000 houses have collapsed or been washed away as a result of flash floods and landslides. 
The affected provinces have mobilsed resources to address those issues, but this is only a temporary solution. Their reports show that there are nearly 5,600 families without houses or living in makeshift homes at present. Meanwhile, more than 42,100 others are living in highly vulnerable areas and need to be evacuated. 
Based on the localities’ proposals, the agriculture ministry asked the PM to approve VNĐ839 billion (nearly US$36 million) in emergency aid, including VNĐ391 billion ($16.8 million) for rebuilding houses and VNĐ447 billion ($19.2 million) for reconstructing essential infrastructure facilities. 
Statistics show that among the 18 provinces and cities in need of this support, the northern province of Yên Bái needs the biggest relief, at VNĐ204 billion ($8.7 million), for recovery efforts. 
At the meeting, officials said prolonged heavy rain and the rapid rise of water levels in a short period of time were among the main causes of landslides and flash floods. Therefore, emergency financial aid is critical to helping victims rebuild houses and stabilise their lives. 
PM Phúc said central agencies and local authorities need to swiftly decide on necessary solutions and actively evacuate and assist affected residents. 
He asked them to make use of different resources to help victims rebuild houses, noting that support should vary according to the damage each family suffers from so as to ensure fairness. 
The agriculture ministry and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment were requested to promptly finalise and submit an evacuation plan for people in disaster-hit areas to the PM. Meanwhile, ministries, sectors and localities have to actively co-ordinate with other forces in natural disaster prevention and control, the Government leader said. — VNS