HCMC - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has told local authorities to make further efforts to prevent landslides, and closely supervise planning and construction along riverbanks and coastlines in the Mekong Delta.

The Government leader has made site visits to coastal embankments, residential areas, and land areas suffering erosion in Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Dong Thap, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, and An Giang provinces. During his working session with local authorities on August 12, Chinh said that the land subsidence rate in the Mekong Delta is three to four times faster than the rise of sea level, putting this region at risk of submersion. From 2016 until now, the Mekong Delta region has seen a total of 779 places being hit by landslides. The impact of climate change, rising sea levels, coupled with land subsidence and extreme weather, has increasingly exacerbated the erosion of riverbanks and coastlines in the provinces of the Mekong Delta. Given the situation, Chinh required local authorities to support households in the landslide-hit areas and promptly relocate households in high-risk areas prone to erosion. The local authorities have been asked to mitigate the risk of landslides to ensure the safety of residents and critical infrastructure. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with the Ministries of Planning-Investment and Finance, and local authorities, have been assigned to review the areas prone to landslides and soil erosion to develop suitable measures for addressing them. The Ministry of Planning and Investment will coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to allocate resources and present proposals to the Prime Minister for supporting these localities. Chinh also called for relevant units to assess the causes of the landslides and erosion, closely supervise urban planning and construction activities, as well as manage sand exploitation, groundwater extraction, and mangrove forest conservation.