[jackbl]

We thought FLOODs are bad for the people, living ppl homeless and lost their properties,etc but ..............



Late flood sways farmers in Vietnam’s southwestern region
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VietNamNet Bridge – because of annual floods being late Many people in Vietnam’s southwestern region have left their homes to earn their living.


Many people told VietNamNet that this is the most tragic flood –or rather floddless- season in their lives in the past several decades.



Late floods cause great losses

VietNamNet reporter visited the famous “market for fishing-nets” at the Vinh Thanh crossroad in Lap Vo district, Dong Thap province at 10am but it was very quiet.

“Previously, October our sales were going very well. Customers from Long An, Vinh Long and An Giang flocked to this market to buy nets. It is now the middle of the flood season but I couldn’t sell just a single net for several days,” complained Mrs. Thuy, a net seller.

“It is the flood season now but water can’t flood grass in the field so there is few fish and shrimp. I heard that the Mekong River is blocked in the upstream so flood water can’t come here,” Thuy added.

At Long Buu and Long Binh villages in Lai Vung district, Dong Thap province, which are famous for making bamboo fishing creels, people are also distressed because of the late flood.

“At this time last year, all families in my village were making fishing tackles. But now only several families do that job. Flood hasn’t come yet so nobody wants to buy fishing creels,” said Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tam in Long Buu village.

Duong Hoai Han, the biggest fishing tackle producer in Long Binh village, told VietNamNet that last flood season (from July to November) he sold around 5000-6000 creels but this year he had sold only 1000 units.

According to local authorities, there were around 400 creel makers in the two villages last year but now, only several dozens of people do this job.

“We mainly live by farming. When the flood comes, we make creels, fishing net or go fishing. This year, flood water doesn’t come so many people are unemployed,” said Mr. Duong Van Hen, 60, in Hoa Long commune, Dong Thap province.



Without flood, people leave their homes

The consequence of late flood is very clear in Long Buu fishing-boat village, Lai Vung district, Dong Thap province.

“Flood doesn’t come so I couldn’t sell fishing boats. I had to fire my workers. Early this year I bought a large volume of wood, I had to maintain the wood by throwing them to the river” said Duong Van Nhan, director of a private fishing-boat building enterprise.

Nhan also said that his sale dropped from 700 boats last year to 100 this year.

Tran Van Hong, the owner of a new small fishing-boat enterprise in Dong Thap, complained: “Last year I worked for a fishing boat enterprise and earned several hundreds of thousands dong a day. This year I borrowed money from banks to open my own business. But it is unlucky that flood has not come! I’ve made losses!”.

Phu Nam Dang, Long Buu village’s chief told VietNamNet that up to a half of 110 fishing-boat enterprises in the village have closed because of late flood.

Le Van Hung, chief of the Irrigation Department of Dong Thap province, said that apart from losses in aquaculture, late flood has also affected rice crops.

“Dong Thap has over 650,000 hectares of rice. As the flood comes late, many areas will face drought in the next Winter-Spring crop,” Hung said.



Record-low flood in 85 years

As a branch of the Mekong River, the 120km Tien river is the means of support of many families in Dong Thap province. As flood water has not come yet, the fields located along the river are in a devastated state.

The Dong Thap Irrigation Department said that the flood water this year is the lowest in the last 85 years.

The flood peak in the Tien River upstream in Tan Chau district, An Giang province, is only 3.05m, 1.07m lower than that in 2009.

The Dong Thap Hydrometeorology Centre said that this year Dong Thap doesn’t have early flood. By the end of July 2010, the highest water level was still 0.3-1m lower than the average of previous years.

From July to November, the flood season, the water level in Dong Thap was always 0.2-1.2m lower than the average of previous years.



Trung Thanh – An Bang