An official from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development from Ca Mau province, on the southern most tip of Vietnam, stated yesterday that over 40,000 people might face evacuation as their land area is under constant threat of landslides.

Coastal provinces on the southern side of Hau (Rear) River, one of the two main tributaries of Mekong River, are most vulnerable to seawater intrusion. The area, including An Giang, Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces, is bordered by the East and West seas on both sides.

HCM CITY — Long-term vision and short-term planning should be the twin planks on which the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta should base its adaptation to climate change, Dutch experts said at a workshop yesterday.

According to the Southern Regional Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Center, at Phu An Station, the Saigon River might see the tide rise higher to 1.42m-1.45ms. At the Nha Be Station, it is expected to rise to 1.38-1.42ms.

Nearly 8,000 households have been moved from flood-prone areas in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta since 2008, under a national programme to build flood-proof residential clusters, representatives said at a project review meeting on Wednesday.

Climate change and global warming is seeing sea levels rise and is the reason behind the severe weather conditions in several northern provinces like Quang Ninh and Nam Dinh and Hai Phong City.

Vietnam has successfully mobilised more than USD1.2 billion from international donors for activities in response to climate change. So far funding of about USD1.3 billion has been committed or is in the process of negotiation with international donors for the NTP.

The devastating earthquake in Haiti a year ago accounted for about two thirds of the toll, killing more than 222,500 people, according to the Belgium-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED).