Speaking with VietNamNet reporter, Mr. Nguyen Van Nghia, Director of the Dak Nong Province Construction Investment Project Management Board (investor of Dak N'ting reservoir project) said that after more than 6 months of emergency repair of Dak N'ting reservoir, the capital of more than 3 billion VND has not been disbursed, causing the unit to be "hanging" with the contractor.

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Panoramic view of Dak N'ting reservoir

According to Mr. Nghia, the reason the capital was "suspended" was because the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) avoided responsibility and refused to advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue an "urgent construction order" before starting the repair. This unit also did not advise on taking out the capital but pushed all responsibility onto the investor.

"The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development believes that in order to disburse funds, the cause of landslides and cracks must be clarified. However, this was an incident outside the construction site. When the incident occurred, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development also came to inspect and requested that the capital be quickly used, and if there was a shortage, the Central Government would supplement it, but the Department did not advise," said Mr. Nghia.

However, Mr. Pham Tuan Anh, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Nong province, said that this consultation is not the responsibility of the Department alone but also of many other agencies. This is a project under construction and has not been handed over yet, so the responsibility lies entirely with the investor.

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Workers urgently drill to drain groundwater to save the lake.

According to Mr. Pham Tuan Anh, if we want to use this capital, we must have the results of the inspection to determine whether the cause of the landslide is objective or subjective. If the investor says this incident is outside the project, how could it be that the landslide occurred right at the dam body?

"We are following the law, and whoever says we are avoiding responsibility is wrong," said Mr. Pham Tuan Anh.

Regarding this content, in an exchange with VietNamNet reporter, Mr. Le Van Chien, Standing Vice Chairman of Dak Nong Provincial People's Committee, affirmed that this matter must clearly determine whether the cause is the contractor's fault or a natural disaster.

"If it is due to natural disasters, then the funds can be disbursed, but if it is the contractor's fault, the contractor will have to pay for the repairs themselves," Mr. Chien affirmed.

It is known that the Independent Inspection Team is still re-examining the cause of the landslide at the Dak N'ting reservoir project and has not yet had results.

Previously, as VietNamNet reported, on August 2, 2023, Dak G'long district authorities suddenly discovered that the hillside on the left side of the Dak N'ting reservoir (Quang Son commune) had cracks and landslides about 500m long and 3-5cm wide.

The investor, the Dak Nong Province Construction Investment Project Management Board, urgently requested construction units to quickly send workers to the site to drill the dam body, create trenches to drain groundwater... to save the dam.

The Dak N'Ting reservoir project has a total investment of nearly 137 billion VND, of which nearly 106 billion VND comes from the Climate Change and Green Growth Target Program for the 2016-2020 period and nearly 32 billion VND comes from the local budget.

With a total land use area of ​​more than 80 hectares, the project will supply water to 680 hectares of crops, including 100 hectares of rice fields in Quang Son commune, Dak G'long district.

The People's Committee of Dak Nong province has just agreed to hire an independent inspection unit to find the cause of the landslide at Dak N'ting reservoir.