A continuing drought over the past few months in the central province of Phu Yen has resulted in a lack of water for thousands of people living in mountainous areas. Son Dinh commune in the mountainous district of Son Hoa has been hardest hit. Most of the wells in the commune are dry, forcing local residents to purchase water from other communes at a price of between VND70,000-90,000 ($3.3-4.7) per cu.m. Nguyen Thi Tien, a local resident in the commune’s Hoa Binh hamlet, said it was expensive to buy water, so her family could only afford water for cooking and bathing the children. Many adults are traveling to Hoa Thuan lake or Hoa Binh spring, more than 2km away, to bathe and wash their clothes, she said. People’s Committee Chairman at Son Dinh commune, Nguyen Thanh Tan, said more than 500 households in the commune faced water shortages. The commune earlier invested in building three safe water supply stations, but the lack of water has made them unusable, he said. Water shortages still occur during the dry season, but this year was considered worse than usual, he said. Authorities of Son Ha District have decided to earmark VND8.1 billion ($385,000) to build safe water stations for residents of Son Dinh commune. A feasibility study is being carried out to find suitable locations for the construction of the stations. (Vietnam News May 5 p3)
