Individuals and organizations inside and outside the country have so far this year committed over 14 billion VND in aid to help Vietnam’s central coastal provinces mitigate consequences of natural calamities.
The figure was revealed on March 14 by Phan Dien, President of the Management Council of the Disaster Mitigation Fund for the Central Region.
This year, the Disaster Mitigation Fund for the Central Region plans to build 30 community houses to provide shelters for local people in central coastal provinces prone to natural disasters.
It has set to support the deployment of projects to plant 200 ha of mangrove forest along the coast of Hau Loc district, Thanh Hoa province, and develop protective forests in Quang Ninh district, Quang Binh province.
The two projects are planned to be carried out in six years from 2010 till 2015, to help localities to tackle and adapt to climate change.
In the year, the fund will coordinate with local authorities to organise training courses to enhance the local communities’ ability to deal with floods and storms and mitigate consequences of these disasters.
In 2009, the fund received 14.7 billion VND in aid from various local and foreign organisations and individuals.
The sum was used for the building of eight community houses, medical stations and classrooms in flood-prone areas in Quang Nam , Quang Tri, Quang Ngai, Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, Thua Thien-Hue provinces and Da Nang city.
It was also used for training 200 local workers to improve their skills in flood and storm prevention and control.