Mexico City (VNA) – The VietnameseEmbassy in Mexico held a fund-raising ceremony on August 7 to collect money forLao people affected by the collapse of the Sepien-Senamnoi hydropower dam inthe southern province of Attapeu.
Speaking at the event, Charged'affaires of the embassy Doan Anh Tuan highlighted the traditionalfriendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnamand Laos.
He called on the staff of the embassy andVietnamese representative agencies to donate money to support the affectedpeople.
At the ceremony, over 8.3 million VND (365 USD)was raised for the targeted people. The money will be transferred to them viarelevant agencies.
Earlier, the Vietnamesegovernment granted 200,000 USD as relief aid to local residents hit by theincident. Vietnam’s ministries, sectors and localities also launched activitiesto assist the victims.
The Sepien-Senamnoi hydropower dam collapsed onJuly 23, causing massive floods which submerged 10 villages downstream andcompletely isolated Sanamxay district.
The incident affected over 1,300 households with6,600 people. So far, the rescue forces have found the bodies of 31 victims.
At an international press conference held inVientiane on August 7, Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith said 100 peopleremain unaccounted for and it would take many years for Laos to address theserious consequences.
Therefore, the Lao government still needs assistanceand sharing from other countries and non-governmental organisations, especiallyin searching and rescuing the missing, restoring and building infrastructure inaffected villages, providing food and necessities for the victims, andpreparing health equipment, medicines and ambulances, he said.
In the short term, the government will focus onarranging temporary accommodations for more than 6,000 people who wereseriously affected by the incident, then resettlement.
Minister of Energy and Mines Khammany Inthirathsaid the government is setting up an investigation committee to coordinate withinternational organisations to look into the dam collapse.
The committee will examine the quality ofnearly 50 hydropower dams which have been completed as well as the design ofthose under construction, he said, adding that Laos will also establish a watermanagement board to keep track of the volume of water in lakes.
The Lao Government had also decided to halt thesigning of new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Project DevelopmentAssistance (PDA) contracts on hydropower nationwide to conduct furtherassessment and revision, he added.-VNA