(continued)
6. DECREE NO. 852 - TTg OF DECEMBER 28, 1995 OF THE PRIME MINISTER ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SOME LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS  

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;
Pursuant to the Ordinance on Organization of the People’s Council and People’s Committee (Amendment) of June 21, 1994;
Pursuant to Decree No.73 - CP of November 1, 1995, promulgating regulations on functions, tasks, authority and organization of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Decree No.74 - CP of November 1, 1995, promulgating regulations on functions, tasks, authority and organization of the Ministry of Industry; Decree No.75 - CP of November 1, 1995, promulgating regulations on functions, tasks, authority and organization of the Ministry of Planning and Investment;
At the proposal of the Minister, Chairperson of the Governmental Committee for Organization and Personnel, and the proposals of the Ministers of Planning and Investment, Industry, Agriculture and Rural Development;  

Article 1: To set up or close down some Departments of the People’s Committees of provinces and cities under the control of the Central Government listed below:
1- To establish the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development by merging and rearranging existing state management units in agriculture, forestry and water resources in order to assist the People’s Committees of provinces, cities under the control of the Central Government in conducting state management of agriculture, forestry, water resources and rural development.
2- To establish the Department of Planning and Investment by merging and rearranging the existing Planning Committees and other units that are in charge of investment in provinces and cities under the control of the Central Government.
3- To close down the Department of Power in provinces, cities under control of the Central Government, in order to transfer the authority for state management of electricity to the Department of Industry; the Vietnam General Power Company shall manage the production and commercial distribution of electricity.

Article 2: To set up new Departments that shall be under the People’s Committees of districts and similar levels listed as below:
1- To establish the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development at district level by merging and rearranging the existing units in charge of state management of agriculture, forestry, and water resources.
2- To establish the Department of Planning and Investment at district level by merging and rearranging existing units in charge of planning and investment.

Article 3: The Minister, Chairperson of the Governmental Committee for Organization and Personnel shall coordinate with the Ministers of Planning and Investment, Industry, Agriculture and Rural Development in issuing clear instructions on the establishment and regulation of functions, tasks, authority and organization of the above mentioned units.

Article 4: This Decision shall take effect from the date of issuance. All previous regulations including those issued by local People’s Committees that are inconsistent with this Decision are hereby annulled.

Article 5: The Ministers, Heads of offices at ministry level, Heads of offices under the Government, Chairpersons of the People’s Committees of provinces and cities under control of the Central Government, shall be obliged to implement this Decision.  

7. ORDER NO. 296 - TTg OF MAY 10, 1996 OF THE PRIME MINISTER ON THE TASK OF DYKE MANAGEMENT, PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF FLOODS AND STORMS AND MITIGATING DISASTERS FOR 1996
The weather in our country has shown unusual signs for the first months of the year 1996, with long spells of severely cold weather, small amounts of rain, tornadoes and hailstorms causing much loss in terms of human life, property and agricultural production in the whole country.
In order to be able to fight disasters, floods and storms to assure the safety of people’s lives and people’s and state property; to create an impetus for change in the first year of the 1996-2000 five-year period, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Day for Dyke Management, Prevention, Control of Floods and Storms and Mitigating disasters (May 22, 1946 - May 22, 1996), the Prime Minister promulgates that Ministries, Central Sectors, and People’s Committees of provinces and cities under the control of the Central Government shall fulfil the following tasks:
1- To review performances and draw from the experiences of implementing the Ordinance on Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms, the Ordinance on Dykes and Decree No. 168/HDBT of May 19, 1990 in the year of 1995 and previous years. At provincial level, offices in charge of prevention, control of floods and storms and dyke management shall need to be reinforced so that they perform well the role of advisor to the People’s Committee of their level (including provinces that do not have dykes).
Sectors, levels that are authorized to make changes in organization and personnel shall need to quickly settle and complete their organizing work in order to focus on fulfilling their tasks in prevention, control of floods and storms, in dyke management and disaster control for 1996; especially the People’s Committee, the Committee for Prevention, Control of Floods and Storms, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development at all levels, the Power industry shall be obliged to participate in carrying out these tasks.
2- Authorities at all levels, all sectors shall need to set up their plans and measures for prevention, control of floods and storms; for fighting floods, draught, fires, forest fires, landslides, flashfloods and avalanches in mountainous regions; for fighting pest infestations and diseases in crops, epidemics among human beings and animals, in the whole country in order to reduce the number of disasters in 1996 in a practical and efficient manner with the least loss of human life and property.
Units particularly in certain fields at all levels like: prevention, control of floods and storms, dyke management, water and irrigation system management, power plant management, forestry inspection, veterinary service, fauna protection, fire fighting, hydro-meteorology, geology, geo-physics, hygiene and disease prevention, etc. shall conduct efficiently the work of disaster management in their field, and provide a timely report to the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms and the National Committee for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction in Vietnam.
3- The People’s Committee and the Committee for Prevention, Control of Floods and Storms of provinces and cities under the Central Government, the Vietnam General Power Company, shall direct the work of inspecting and evaluating the quality of dykes, dams, tunnels, banks, reservoirs, electricity lines and other facilities used for prevention, control of floods and storms; to complete plans on reinforcement of facilities, especially of projects that were damaged by disasters in 1995.
Provinces and cities that have dykes shall complete the work of regular reinforcement of dykes, dams, tunnels for 1996 before the flood and storm season; shall prohibit and strictly punish acts of violation to the Ordinance on Dykes in their locality, and strengthen the force for dyke rescue and flood control; shall organize training, practice and enhance inspection, detection and solution of problems occurring in dykes, dams, tunnels in order to avoid disasters.
Provinces and cities located in the lower areas of the Hoa Binh power project and within the reservoir area shall closely monitor the plans for flood control for lower areas and for the Hoa Binh reservoir itself in order to protect the population residing within the reservoir area; they shall also adopt a flexible approach in implementation of regulations of the reservoir to suit different situations. Other reservoirs like Thac Ba, Tri An, Da Nhim, Thac Mo, Vinh Son, Ialy, Dau Tieng, etc. shall need similar attention.
Provinces located adjacent to the Day river shall have to be well prepared and ready to follow orders to relieve flooding in bad situations.
Coastal provinces shall need to make the people aware of measures to prevent and control floods and storms as well as how to combat storms and rises in water levels. Special attention should be given to fishermen who live in swampy areas in the Centre and fishermen who regularly live on ships, boats offshore.
Provinces seriously threatened by floods in the Mekong delta need to draw from the experiences of 1994 and 1995 in preventing and combating floods and devise concrete measures to protect people, to harvest the summer-autumn rice crop, to prepare boats and shelters well before the onset of the storm season.
Mountainous provinces shall devise plans for relocating the population of flashflood prone areas, and instruct them on how to prevent, control and combat flash flooding in areas most likely to be affected.
Other provinces shall have to be ready to fight disasters like: draught, forest fires, pests, epidemics, landslides, flashfloods, tornadoes, hailstorms, etc.
Provinces and cities in the whole country shall engage in the task of collection of funds for prevention and control of floods and storms as required by the Ordinance on Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms in order to provide timely financial assistance to overcome unexpected disasters in their locality.
The Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the provinces, cities under the government shall assign concrete tasks and responsibilities related to forecasting and warning people of storms, dyke management and reinforcement in their area to local authorities at different levels; and also publicize the provisions contained in the Ordinance on Dykes, the Ordinance on Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms, earlier experiences in prevention and control of floods and storms via the mass media to raise awareness levels among the people to combat disasters.
4- Ministries, Central Sectors, and the Committees for Prevention, Control of Floods and Storms of ministries, central sectors like: Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Science Technology and Environment, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Communication and Transportation, shall have the obligation to coordinate closely with localities in carrying out programmes on reinforcing dykes, dams, tunnels in the Northern Delta and the provinces in the former Northern IVth Zone; in implementing plans for prevention and control of floods and storms in the Mekong Delta; in implementing plans for prevention and control of floods and storms in the Central provinces; and in implementing plans for preventing and combating flashfloods in mountainous provinces.
The Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Training, shall be obliged to coordinate closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms in resolving issues concerning assistance and relief for flood victims in terms of financial aid and other necessities.
The Ministry of Defense shall organize its forces and other resources in such a way as to enable it to play the key role in rescue work along with forces mobilized by ministries and localities in urgent situations, with priority given to dyke reinforcement and flood control.
The Ministry of Fishery Products, Ministry of Communication and Transportation shall coordinate with the Ministry of Defense in setting up concrete plans for protecting fishermen and fishing boats on the high seas.
The Ministry of Interior shall have the obligation to maintain law and order in any situation, especially in the prevention and control of fires.
The Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Culture and Information and other offices like the Vietnam News Agency, Vietnam Radio, Vietnam Television, and other newspapers shall adopt diverse and appropriate measures and means to publicize awareness campaigns for prevention and control of floods and storms among the community.
The General Department of Land Administration together with related ministries and departments shall scrutinize measures for management and use of land to ensure safety in times of natural disasters and flooding.
The General Department of Hydro-Meteorology shall provide timely and complete information by way of weather forecasts for rain and floods to the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms so that it can initialize and direct activities of disaster control.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall closely supervise the work of dyke management, reservoir operation that is within its scope of management; it shall coordinate with the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms and the National Committee for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction in Vietnam in conducting and coordinating activities to prevent, control and mitigate disasters in the whole country, and actively participate in activities designed for the International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction in Vietnam.

 5- The State Inspectors, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms shall coordinate the inspection, promotion the implementation of this Order by Ministries, Sectors and Localities; and prepare a timely report for the Government Office.  

8. DECISION NO. 299 - TTg OF MAY 13, 1996 OF THE PRIME MINISTER ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE FOR PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF FLOODS AND STORMS  

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;
Pursuant to the Ordinance on Dykes of November 9, 1989;
Pursuant to Decree No.168 - HDBT of May 19, 1990 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government) promulgating regulations on organization, tasks of the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms;
At the proposal of the Minister, Chairperson of the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms;

Article 1: To establish the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms, which shall comprise:
- Mr. Nguyen Canh Dinh, Minister, Chairperson of the Mekong Committee of Vietnam, as Chairperson;
- Mr. Vu Trong Hong, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, as Standing Vice Chairperson;
- Mr. Lai Van Cu, Vice Director of the Government Office, as Vice Chairperson;
- Major General Nguyen Huy Hieu, Vice Chief of Staff of Vietnam People’s Army, as Vice Chairperson;
- Ms. Phan Thanh Xuan, Vice Chairperson of the Committee for Ethnicity and Mountainous Regions, as Vice Chairperson;
- Mr. Tao Huu Phung, Vice Minister of Finance, as Vice Chairperson;
- Mr. Nguyen Luong Trao, Vice Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, as Vice Chairperson;
- Mr. Ta Quang Ngoc, Vice Minister of Fishery Products, as Member;
- Mr. Pham Quang Tuyen, Vice Minister of Communication and Transportation, as Member;
- Mr. Dang Van Than, Director of the Department of Post, as Member;
- Mr. Nguyen Duc Phan, Vice Minister of Industry, as Member;
- Mr. Nguyen Tan Van, Vice Minister of Construction, as Member;
- Mr. Truong Dinh Tuyen, Vice Minister of Trade, as Member;
- Mr. Le Thanh, Vice Director of the Department of People’s Police as Member;
- Mr. Nguyen Van Thuong, Vice Minister of Health, as Member;
- Mr. Tran Dinh Khien, Vice Minister of Planning and Investment, as Member;
- Mr. Pham Khoi Nguyen, Vice Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, as Member;
- Mr. Nguyen Duc Ngu, Director of the Department of Hydro-Meteorology, as Member;
- Mr. Tran Chi Dao, Vice Minister of Education and Training, as Member;
- Mr. Vu Khac Lien, Vice Minister of Culture and Information, as Member;

Article 2: The Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms shall be tasked with assisting the Government in the following:
- Encourage and check with sectors and localities that plans are formulated and carried out annually for the purpose of prevention and control of floods and storms.
- Issue orders for mobilization of human resources and funds to provide timely support to urgent situations, that sectors and localities are unable to solve.
- Direct localities on how to overcome consequences of floods and storms.
- Sum up performance of tasks to prevent and control floods and storms; introduce experiences and scientific and technological innovations in prevention, and control of floods and storms to sectors and localities.

Article 3: The tasks of Vice Chairpersons and Members of the Committee shall be assigned by the Chairperson of the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms.

Article 4: This Decision shall take effect from the date of issuance, and shall replace Decision No. 349/TTg of June 10, 1995 on Supplement of Members for the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms.

Article 5: The Chairperson of the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms, the Ministers, Heads of Offices at ministry level, Heads of Offices of the Government, the Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and cities under the Central Government, and other members of the Central Committee for Prevention, Control of Floods and Storms shall have the obligation to implement this Decision.

(to be continued)