The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has approved a US$180 million disaster management project. 

Floods occured in central Ha Tinh Province's Huong Khe District after one-week rain. The natural disaster prone area is among a few to benefit from a disaster management project worth US$180 million. (Photo: VNS)

The World Bank will contribute $150 million towards the total, with the rest coming from Viet Nam, the ministry said. 

The project aims to strengthen response to and recovery from natural disasters, as well as schemes to mitigate the effects of landslides, typhoons and sea-level rise in a bid to minimise human and property losses in the central coastal provinces. 

The programme will run until 2017. 

The project will also strive to improve weather forecasts and disaster warning systems at the national Hydro-meteorological Centre's regional branches, while disseminating accurate information promptly to the public to give people more time to respond to natural disasters.

The money will also be used to trial a new way of collecting and analysing meteorological data. 

MARD said that through medium and small scale investment in infrastructure, the project will mitigate disaster risks in the Ca, Ma, Vu Gia-Thu Bon and Tra Khuc-Tra Bong river basins.

In its first phase, the project will be carried out in the central provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Nam and Binh Dinh. 

Source: VNS