The Ka Pet irrigation reservoir project (My Thanh commune, Ham Thuan Nam district) is invested by the Binh Thuan Provincial Agricultural Project Management Board. According to the investor's report, after the National Assembly issued Resolution No. 101/2023/QH15 (dated June 24, 2023) adjusting the project investment policy, on August 18, the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province sent an official dispatch to the Prime Minister proposing to assign the project investor. On October 4, the Prime Minister sent an official dispatch to the Provincial People's Committee and assigned the project investor. On October 9, the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province sent an official dispatch assigning the Binh Thuan Provincial Agricultural Project Management Board to be the project investor.
Simulation of Ka Pet irrigation reservoir project
Assessing current forest status and reforestation
According to the project investor, the assessment of the current forest status was completed in 2020, and the data will be updated by the Southern Forest Planning and Investigation Sub-Institute in April 2022.
The project covers an area of over 697 hectares, of which over 619 hectares are forested land and nearly 138 hectares are special-use forests (136.88 hectares of natural forests and 1.07 hectares of planted forests); 0.51 hectares of protective forests; 440.4 hectares of production forests; 40.72 hectares of land outside the planning of the three types of forests and 78.15 hectares of non-forested land (including 60.14 hectares of bare land and 18.01 hectares of agricultural land of the people).
The entire forest in the project area is a poor secondary forest (regenerating after exploitation in 2002 or earlier). The forest has a total of 78 species, but most of them are common woody plants, except for two precious species in the Vietnam Red Book: Pterocarpus macrocarpus kurz and Melanorrhoea usitata wall.
However, through the investigation results of 96 typical standard plots, the two species of rosewood and cashew are regenerated trees, distributed in the area of production forests and part of the area of special-use forests.
For replacement forestation, the replacement forest area is 1,844 hectares, according to Article 21 of the Forestry Law.
Currently, the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province has assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to review each location to ensure that the replacement forest area is in accordance with regulations. The People's Committee of Binh Thuan province requires that forests be planted with native trees such as oil and black star. Forest owners are still surveying land funds according to the criteria to register for forest planting. On that basis, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development synthesizes and submits to the Provincial People's Committee for approval, ensuring that the forest planting is completed along with the project schedule by the end of 2025.
Replace the unit to supplement the environmental impact assessment report
The Ka Pet reservoir project was adjusted by the National Assembly in June 2023, so the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report must also be adjusted according to the provisions of Decree 08/2022 (dated January 10, 2022) of the Government and Circular No. 2 dated January 10, 2022 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment detailing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection; at the same time, implementing Decree No. 114/2018 dated September 4, 2018 of the Government on the safety management of reservoirs and dams.
Therefore, the EIA of the Ka Pet reservoir project will have to add two important contents: assessing the current status of biodiversity and biological resources, the project's impact on the environment and proposing mitigation solutions. Next, it is necessary to develop a downstream flood map, in the event of emergency flood discharge and dam failure due to the project's impact on the forest in the conservation area (called the dam failure scenario).
Meanwhile, according to regulations, the unit currently preparing the EIA report does not have the capacity to perform the above two functions. The Department of Planning and Investment of Binh Thuan has submitted to the Provincial People's Committee a plan to terminate the contract with the old EIA unit to find a new unit with the capacity and function to prepare the report on the two additional contents in the new EIA, then submit it to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for approval.
Supplemental feasibility study report
On August 30, the Department of Construction Management (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) sent an official dispatch requesting the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province to supplement the feasibility study report of the Ka Pet irrigation reservoir project, such as updating hydrological data and selecting optimal route and area options.
Core area of Ka Pet irrigation lake project
According to Mr. Phan Thanh Hoang, Director of the Provincial Agricultural Project Management Board, the investor has completed and supplemented a number of related legal documents as required.
Regarding the compensation, support, resettlement and alternative forestation plans of the project, the People's Committee of Ham Thuan Nam District is examining and reviewing the preliminary compensation and support plans to incorporate them into the total investment of the project. Mr. Hoang also said that the accumulated capital invested in the project to date is more than 10.2 billion VND, of which the capital allocation plan for 2023 is 5 billion VND. The total disbursed capital for the project has only reached 5.5 billion VND/10.2 billion VND.
Difficulties in project implementation
Because the National Assembly has issued a resolution to adjust the project, the project's EIA report must supplement the above two contents. Meanwhile, the EIA implementation unit does not have the capacity and function to do so, so it must find a new unit to replace it. Therefore, this adjustment has affected the time set for approving the project's EIA.
Currently, the investor is coordinating with relevant units to complete and supplement the project feasibility study report. In particular, there are many tasks that require time such as asking for opinions from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and agencies under the National Assembly. In particular, it is necessary to coordinate with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the province to organize a wide consultation of people from all walks of life in the province before completing the dossier for appraisal and deciding on project investment.
"The investor has proposed that the Provincial People's Committee report to the Prime Minister to allow an extension of the time for project appraisal and investment decision to continue researching, clarifying and proposing the optimal investment plan, most harmoniously solving economic, technical, environmental, social issues... of the project," said a leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan.
At the meeting held on October 26, Chairman of Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee Doan Anh Dung requested the Provincial Agricultural Project Management Board to coordinate with relevant units to carry out procedures for the Ka Pet irrigation reservoir project in a cautious, strict and legal manner. The Chairman of Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee also requested the Department of Information and Communications of Binh Thuan to establish a communications working group to proactively and regularly provide complete, timely and accurate information about the Ka Pet irrigation reservoir project.
The Ka Pet reservoir irrigation project is an important irrigation project for which the National Assembly decided on investment policy in Resolution No. 93/2019/QH14 dated November 26, 2019 and adjusted and supplemented the investment policy in Resolution No. 101/2023/QH15 dated June 24, 2023.
The capacity of Ka Pet irrigation reservoir is more than 51.2 million m3 of raw water. The total investment of the project is more than 874 billion VND; of which the central budget is more than 519 billion VND and the local budget is more than 354 billion VND. The project implementation period is from 2019 to the end of 2025.
The Ka Pet irrigation reservoir project provides irrigation water for about 7,762 hectares of agricultural land in Ham Thuan Nam district; supplies raw water for Ham Kiem II Industrial Park 2.63 million m3 /year; creates a raw water source for the daily life of about 120,000 people in Ham Thuan Nam district and Phan Thiet city; prevents floods and improves the environment, regulates water for the downstream area of Ham Thuan Nam district and Binh Thuan province.
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