Ben Tre (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc haspointed out an urgent need to ensure standardised drinking water for residentsin the Mekong Delta while minimising socio-economic impact caused by droughtthere.

Saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta, the largestagricultural production hub of Vietnam, has appeared sooner and become moresevere than in the 2015-2016 dry season, when historic drought and salineintrusion were recorded, and the phenomenon is predicted to remain serious forthe rest of this dry season, thus greatly affecting agricultural production andpeople’s life.

Facing that fact, the Cabinet leader made a fact-findingtour of Ben Tre province and had a working session with officials of someministries and the region’s provinces of Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Long An, Kien Giangand Ca Mau on March 8.

At the meeting, PM Phuc stressed the importance of theGovernment’s Resolution 120/CP on sustainably developing the Mekong Delta inadaptation to climate change.

He noted that at the meeting in Tien Giang last September,the Government ordered localities in the region to begin the winter-spring cropone month ahead of schedule and change the crop structure in drought-hit areas.As a result, the damaged rice area is about 39,000ha, equivalent to only 9.6percent from 2016, when more 405,000ha of rice were destroyed by drought andsaltwater intrusion.

This is an important success amid serious impact of climate changein the region in the recent past, he said.

However, as drought and saltwater intrusion this year is forecastto be even more severe than in 2016, water scarcity will affect locals’ daily lifeand agriculture. Therefore, ministries, sectors and localities need to focus onsome short- and long-term measures to deal with problems emerging, especiallythe shortage of standardised drinking water, the PM noted.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, water flows to the Mekong Delta in 2019-2020 are much less thanthe average, even less than the volume in 2015-2016, which is the main cause ofearly, serious and prolonged saltwater intrusion in this dry season.

Saltwater encroachment has influenced agriculture and people’slife since December last year and continually got worse. It has been recordedin 10 of the 13 provincial-level localities in the region, excluding An Giang,Dong Thap and Can Tho.

About 95,600 local households are facing water shortages,compared to 210,000 in the 2015-2016 dry season, the ministry said, adding thatauthorities are taking measures to ensure water supply for them.

Speaking highly of efforts to cope with drought andsaltwater intrusion, PM Phuc affirmed that Vietnam has enough food reserves tomeet domestic and export demand.

A difficult problem will be successfully resolved if alleconomic sectors and the whole people join hands to deal with it, he emphasised.

At the meeting, he asked localities in the Mekong Delta tomake active moves to fight the COVID-19 outbreak while fulfillingsocio-economic development tasks without revising targets.

They also need to step up applying science and technology toagriculture, industry and services so as to obtain better results in thesefields, thus helping to achieve the country’s target of 42 billion USD inagriculture exports this year, the PM said, adding that the Government willsupport the provinces hit hard by drought and saltwater intrusion./.