PM orders to promptly fulfill major tasks

At the meeting with the National Steering Committee (NSC) for the Sơn La Hydroelectricity Plant in the morning of June 16, PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng listened to reports on the implementation of the project, covering all stages from construction, supervision, quality management to preparations of the tender of equipment and resettlement work.

Addressing at the meeting, PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, who is also the NSC Head, highly spoke of the responsibility and great efforts of the relevant ministries, sectors, investors, contractors, authorities and people in the provinces of Sơn La, Lai Châu, and Điện Biên, and all workers in order to ensure the schedule of this national project.

The Government head gave assignments to all concerned agencies:

The Ministry of Industry was ordered to approve the total estimate of construction in June 2007; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to design the plan on riverhead protective forests, paying attention to regimes to encourage local people engage in protecting forests; the Ministry of Transport to put into reality the anti-inundation projects and make planning schemes for traffic system in the Northwest.

The Ministry of Construct was assigned to direct the general contractor and subcontractors to maintain the construction quality and schedule. Within the last quarter of 2007, the Ministry of Planning and Investment must assess and submit to the PM the readjusted total investment for the component projects. The Ministry of Resources and Environment should finish assessing and ratifying the report on environmental impacts caused by the Sơn La Hydroelectricity Plant.

The People's Committees of Sơn La, Điện Biên, and Lai Châu should set up, assess and approve the detailed planning schemes for resettlement quarters as well as help local people settle their life. The Vietnam Electricity Group should conduct the bidding package of electromechanical equipment.

The Sông Đà Corporation and its subcontractors should mobilize workers, materials and facilities to speed up the construction.

On the same day, PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng presided over another meeting with the National Committee for Avian Influenza Prevention and Control and the National Committee for Controlling Avian Influenza in Humans to take urgent steps to contain the spread of fatal epidemics.

According to the reports by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Health, up to now, bird flu nidus have been discovered in 106 communes and wards of 18 provinces (Nghệ An, Quảng Ninh, Cần Thơ, Sơn La, Nam Định, Đồng Tháp, Hải Phòng, Bắc Giang, Ninh Bình, Bắc Ninh, Hà Nam, Vĩnh Phúc, Quảng Nam, Hưng Yên, Thái Bình, Phú Thọ, Hà Tĩnh, and Cao Bằng).

PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng urged to accelerate the information work to raise the public awareness of epidemic prevention and preventive measures.

The PM ordered ministries, agencies and local authorities to take drastic measures to control bird flu and avian influenza (H5N1) in an effective way. He stressed the closure of all hatching businesses that fail to meet new tough guidelines, the culling of affected poultry and the reduction of free-range poultry farms.

PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng agreed the import of an additional 200 million doses of bird flu vaccine./.

By Xuân Hồng