Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has allowed the Ministry of Finance to allocate an additional 4,000 tons of rice from the national reserves for famine relief in the central provinces of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa. Of the sum, Thanh Hoa will receive 3,000 tons of rice and Nghe An will take the rest, the government said on its website. The PM required the local authorities to use the granted amount of rice to timely support the locals who are severely hit by recent floods. In early Sept, the violent floodwaters submerged more than 6,000 houses, and damaged more than 40,791 hectares of rice and other crops. Losses are estimated to amount to VND1.87 trillion ($89 million) in the two localities. Since early this year, the government has provided over 35,553 tons of rice to help the poor in 18 provinces namely Yen Bai, Lai Chau, Kon Tum, Binh Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Phu Yen, Dak Lak, Cao Bang, Nghe An, Quang Ngai, Lao Cai, Ha Tinh, Lang Son, Dien Bien, Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Son La. Vietnam reported 401,400 hungry families in the first nine months of this year, with 1.7 million starveling people, falling by 30.7% and 30.1% on year, respectively, according to the government’s General Statistics Office (GSO). (http://baodientu.chinhphu.vn [1] Oct 8, Tien Phong – Pioneer Oct 9 p5)
