Soil erosion as a result of climate change and rising sea levels isworsening in the coastal areas of the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh,impacting greatly on the life of local residents.
Tra Vinh has acoastline of 65km, spanning nine communes and towns which are home tonearly 17,500 households. Up to 55km of that lies in Duyen Hai district.
In the past decade, seawater has worn away hundreds of hectaresof protective forests and residential land in Duyen Hai. Even somebreakwaters built to prevent this have been damaged.
Le Thi TuyetMai from the district’s Dan Thanh commune said that her house used tobe located 400 metres from a breakwater. Now, the new breakwater hasbeen repositioned much closer to her home.
Half of her 4,000sq.m. farmland has also been washed away, Mai said, adding that sheworries her property house will one day be swept out to the sea.
Innearby Hiep Thanh commune, a thousand ‘phi lao’ trees (a species of theCasuarinaceae family) which were planted to protect a 20-year-oldbreakwater have been uprooted by sea waves.
Tran Cong Lap, alocal resident, said the sea has swallowed four fifths of his 5,000sq.m. of farmland, causing many difficulties for his family.
Accordingto the Hiep Thanh People’s Committee, the local shoreline has erodedseverely since 1997 due to the impacts of climate change.
Insome sections, sea water has cut up to 2,000 metres deep into the landand washed away 200 hectares of soil, leaving a total damage of some 3billion VND (142,800 USD), the committee added.
Since 2008,Tra Vinh province has received nearly 115 billion VND (5.5 million USD)from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to reinforcebreakwaters and jetties. Meanwhile, about 420 billion VND (20 millionUSD) has been granted to Tra Vinh for the completion of nearly 5km ofjetties in 2014.
However, Nguyen Van Truong, an official of theprovincial Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control, saidthat the money allocated to his locality every year is not enough tobuild sea water retention facilities.
If the situation continues,unfinished breakwaters will continue to be destroyed and expenses willbuild up, he said, adding that more support from the Government isneeded to complete the system.-VNA
Tra Vinh has acoastline of 65km, spanning nine communes and towns which are home tonearly 17,500 households. Up to 55km of that lies in Duyen Hai district.
In the past decade, seawater has worn away hundreds of hectaresof protective forests and residential land in Duyen Hai. Even somebreakwaters built to prevent this have been damaged.
Le Thi TuyetMai from the district’s Dan Thanh commune said that her house used tobe located 400 metres from a breakwater. Now, the new breakwater hasbeen repositioned much closer to her home.
Half of her 4,000sq.m. farmland has also been washed away, Mai said, adding that sheworries her property house will one day be swept out to the sea.
Innearby Hiep Thanh commune, a thousand ‘phi lao’ trees (a species of theCasuarinaceae family) which were planted to protect a 20-year-oldbreakwater have been uprooted by sea waves.
Tran Cong Lap, alocal resident, said the sea has swallowed four fifths of his 5,000sq.m. of farmland, causing many difficulties for his family.
Accordingto the Hiep Thanh People’s Committee, the local shoreline has erodedseverely since 1997 due to the impacts of climate change.
Insome sections, sea water has cut up to 2,000 metres deep into the landand washed away 200 hectares of soil, leaving a total damage of some 3billion VND (142,800 USD), the committee added.
Since 2008,Tra Vinh province has received nearly 115 billion VND (5.5 million USD)from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to reinforcebreakwaters and jetties. Meanwhile, about 420 billion VND (20 millionUSD) has been granted to Tra Vinh for the completion of nearly 5km ofjetties in 2014.
However, Nguyen Van Truong, an official of theprovincial Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control, saidthat the money allocated to his locality every year is not enough tobuild sea water retention facilities.
If the situation continues,unfinished breakwaters will continue to be destroyed and expenses willbuild up, he said, adding that more support from the Government isneeded to complete the system.-VNA
