PM urges power plant push

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged Son La Province and relevant authorities to speed up work on the Son La Hydropower Plant to ensure it would be operational by this December – two years ahead of schedule.

Dung made the request while attending the formal closing of the sluices to fill up the plant’s reservoir on Saturday.

The plant has six turbines, capable of producing 2,400MW and nearly 10 billion kWh a year.

At the ceremony, Dung thanked ethnic minority groups from the provinces of Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau, who had been forced to relocate because of the project.

He said the Government had doubled the total compensation budget for those who had had to be resettled from VND10 trillion (US$526 million) to VND20 trillion ($1.05 billion).

He stressed that the plant was not only vital to the country’s energy needs but would also help control flooding in the region and irrigate the northern delta in the dry season.

In a working session with key officials from Son La Province, Dung praised efforts by the provincial Party, local authorities and the public over the last years to ensure the project’s success.

The province recorded a GDP growth rate of 14.36 per cent in 2009.

The Prime Minister also asked local authorities to finalise resettlement plans and ensure that those who had been relocated were comfortable.

He advised local authorities to focus over the next five years on developing agriculture, dairy farming and rubber production.

Dung also visited It Ong rubber plantation, which is owned by Son La Rubber Joint Stock Company, and the resettlement village of Phieng Bung in Muong La District. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam energy, Vietnam power plants