People living around some hydropower plants in the central highlands province of Kon Tum are worried about the threat of floods during the rainy season.
People in Dak Pxi Commune leave their houses during a flood
There are now 80 hydropower plants in the province that potentially threaten the lives and crops of residents living around them.
People in Dak Ha District's Dak Pxi Commune still talk about the serious floods in 2020 when many hydropower plants in the area discharged water, destroying a vast area of their coffee gardens and vegetable farms. The power plant investors have still yet to compensate local people.
A local woman, Nguyen Thi Nam, said that over 1,200 coffee trees in her garden died in the flood caused by hydropower plants in 2020.
"Although we got compensation for that damage, we’re now living in constant fear whenever the rainy season arrives," she said. "I hope that local authorities and investors have better measures to ensure our safety and farming activities."
People living along the Dak Snghe River in Kon Ray District are also facing the same threat posed by the operation of local hydropower plants. Since those projects were put into operation, they've suffered serious droughts in dry seasons and then serious flooding in the rainy season. The lives of more than 1,000 households have been badly affected.
Vice chairman of Dak Pxi Commune People's Committee, Phan Van Học, admitted that some 96 households living around the reservoir of the Dak Psi 5 Hydropower Plant were affected following the plant's water discharging in 2020, causing serious flooding with some areas were put some two metres under water.
"We've asked the plant's investor to compensate local people," the official said. "However, some people have not yet agreed with the compensation offered."
Hoc said that they've also asked the plants to inform local people of their water discharging plans so that people have time to evacuate.
"We've also planned to build resettlement areas to relocate people living in vulnerable areas," he said.
