VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged relevant ministries, agencies and localities to check all hydroelectric power projects across the country to repair those with shortcomings as soon as possible.

Engineers check technical parameters at Dong Nai 4 Hydro-power Plant in southern Dong Nai Province. All ministries, agencies and localities are ordered to check all hydroelectric power projects nation-wide.

The inspections will focus on safety and any faults must be fixed immediately otherwise operations may be suspended.
Resettlement zones will also be checked. If local residents' living conditions were not up to standard, relevant agencies must propose improvements.

Investors must also re-plant forests as pledged.

Dung noted that it was necessary to have proper management if a number of hydro-power plants were built on one river to prevent flooding and ensuring water supplies.

New hydroelectric power projects must be managed thoroughly and project appraisal must be conducted tightly before construction started.

Dung instructed relevant agencies to seriously re-assess the Dong Nai 6 and 6A hydroelectric plants, and if they failed to satisfy legal regulations, they would not receive investment licences.

Regarding the Song Tranh 2 hydro-power dam, the Prime Minister affirmed the reservoir was not to be filled before thorough research and analysis of earthquakes had been conducted. International experts from Russia, Japan and India should be invited to join hands with domestic experts to conduct surveys of the area.

In a document released earlier by the Prime Minister's Office, Dung said the Song Tranh 2 hydro-power plant was finished and checks had been carried out as regulated, but there remained public concerns. Tremors had been triggered by the weight of the water, and although they had not affected the dam's integrity, residents' houses had been damaged, he said.

He asked the Viet Nam Institute of Science and Technology to set up five geological stations around the area.

The institute should assign experts to supervise the tremors and formulate a plan to cope with them.

The Quang Nam People's Committee is responsible for providing accurate information to local residents to prevent negative public opinion. Households, schools and public buildings in the affected area will receive financial support.

The Ministry of Construction must join hand with the province to strengthen houses and public buildings against the tremors.

More than 100 hydroelectric projects had been withdrawn from the national power plan, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Source: VNS