(continued)

2. ORDINANCE ON DYKES
Dykes are important structures that have been built, maintained and reinforced by our people through many generations in order to prevent flooding, to counter rises in sea level, to protect people, crops, State property and property of organizations and individuals.
In order to enhance the responsibility of authorities, State institutions, social organizations and individuals for building, reinforcing, protecting, using and rescuing dykes;
Pursuant to Article 19 and Article 100 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;
This Ordinance sets out the provisions on management and use of dykes.
 

 Article 1:
"Dykes" as referred to in this Ordinance comprise:
1. All types of dykes that prevent flooding and sea water flooding, that already exist or are being built under the plans approved by authorized State offices;
2. Tunnels and other facilities within the protected areas that are constructed for the safety of dykes;
3. All types of breakwaters that are built for the purpose of dyke protection.

Article 2 :
The State shall conduct uniform state management of all types of dykes that are built with funding from all sources.

Article 3:
Dykes shall be classified into different categories depending on the nature and level of importance of each dyke.
The Council of Ministers shall set out conditions for each category of dykes; area of dyke protection.

Article 4:
Authorities at all levels, State offices, economic, cultural, social organizations, the people’s armed forces (hereunder referred to as organizations) and individuals shall have the responsibility for building, reinforcing, protecting and rescuing dykes.
All acts that cause destruction or damage to dykes shall be prohibited.
 

 Article 5:
Construction of new dykes or reinforcement of dykes and tunnels shall be carried out in conformity to the general planning for prevention of flooding and sea water flooding that is approved by authorized State offices and shall have to abide by all technical requirements for dyke protection.

Article 6:
The work of construction and reinforcement of dykes before the flood and storm season shall be given priority in terms of allocation of the public labour force as regulated by the Ordinance on Public Contribution of Labour.
The People’s Committee of provinces and administrative units of similar levels shall have to plan and allocate the public labour fund to be used each year for construction and reinforcement of dykes in their locality.
The Council of Ministers shall plan and allocate the public labour fund for the construction and reinforcement of dykes in the whole country.

 Article 7:
Funding for the work of construction and reinforcement of dykes shall be given priority in the investment budget.
The Council of Ministers shall regulate the amount of investment required for each category of dykes.
The State shall encourage organizations and individuals to contribute labour, money, property, scientific and technical know-how towards the work of construction and reinforcement of dykes. 

Chapter III-Protection and Use of Dykes

Article 8:
Organizations and individuals shall have the responsibility for dyke protection.
Anyone who discovers acts that cause damage or threaten the safety of dykes, or damage caused by natural disasters, shall promptly take action and inform local authorities or dyke management staff.

Article 9:
All unauthorized acts of jacking, ousting, closing, opening doors of tunnels; digging, cutting grass; piling hay, firewood or garbage on dykes and other acts that cause damage to the safety of dykes or obstruction to the work of inspecting and rescuing dykes, shall be prohibited.

Article 10:
All activities of drilling and digging in soil and rocks, exploiting natural resources and minerals, construction materials and dredging channels within the protected areas of dykes shall be prohibited.

 Article 11:
Construction, expansion of structures located within the protected areas of dykes and of other structures inside river beds that may endanger dykes or affect the release of flood waters shall be prohibited.

 Article 12:
Explosions that endanger or damage dykes shall be prohibited.

Article 13 :
Dykes shall not be allowed to be used as quays for boats, ships, barges; or as ports for unloading cargo, materials; or as roads for passage of traffic that endanger their safety.

Article 14:
Mechanical vehicles shall not be allowed to ply on dykes that are not designed to be used as roads, except rescue vehicles, emergency vehicles, fire engines on duty, military vehicles, licensed police cars, provided these vehicles do not exceed the carrying capacity of the dykes and the tunnels.

Article 15:
Any one of the activities stipulated in Articles 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of this Ordinance, shall need to be approved by the Ministry of Water Resources or the provincial People’s Committee or an administrative unit of similar level appointed by the Council of Ministers.

Article 16:
Traffic movements, logging of flood prevention forests that are related to the safety of dykes and release of flood waters shall be regulated by the Council of Ministers.
Maintenance and repair of dykes that are used as roads shall be the responsibility of the units in charge of road management, and shall have to be done in accordance with technical conditions stipulated for dyke protection.

 Article 17:
The surface, roof and foot of dykes shall be used only for growing anti-erosion grass.
The land located inside the protected areas of dykes shall be used only for growing tide-resistant forests, rice crops and short-term forests.
Exploitation of tide-resistant forests shall need approval from State authorized units.

 Article 18:
Construction and use of structures that are not located inside the protected areas of dykes, but are related to the safety of dykes shall have to be approved by the Minister of Water Resources; in case such projects are not approved by the Minister, the project manager shall have the right to appeal to the Council of Ministers.
 

Article 19;
Protection and exploitation of historical and cultural monuments located inside the protected areas of dykes shall be undertaken in accordance with the regulations of the Ordinance on Protection and Use of Historical, Cultural and Tourism Heritage, and in accordance with the regulation of this Ordinance concerning safety insurance for dykes.

Article 20 :
The Ministry of Water Resources shall have consistent regulations on signposts for dykes; manage and grant licenses for use of dykes in the whole country.
 

Article 21:
Dyke rescue activities shall be conducted regularly in the flood and storm season, and promptly when dykes are endangered or threatened by floods and storms.
Rescue of facilities used for prevention and control of floods and storms, projects related to prevention and control of floods and storms, and tunnels and dams of major reservoirs that can cause flooding, shall be considered dyke rescue work.

Article 22:
The People’s Committee at all levels shall be tasked with organizing and conducting dyke rescue work in their locality, and shall be responsible for insuring the safety of the dykes as required by the technical regulations on dyke protection; organizing and conducting dyke rescue for other localities.
The Chairperson of the provincial People’s Committee and Heads of administrative units of similar levels shall be responsible for directing, monitoring, inspecting and promoting the implementation of plans for dyke rescue in their locality.
The Chairperson of the district People’s Committee and administrative units of similar levels shall be responsible for implementing plans for dyke rescue in their locality.
The Heads of offices, units that manage projects mentioned in the second part of Article 21 of this Ordinance shall be responsible for setting up and realizing plans for dyke rescue for the projects under their management.

Article 23:
Flood control is a special method of dyke rescue. The Council of Ministers shall regulate the policies on regions that are flooded due to flood control activities.
Activities of flood control that affect two or more provinces shall need to be approved by the Council of Ministers.
The Chairpersons of provincial People’s Committees and Heads of administrative units of similar levels shall approve flood control activities within their locality.

Article 24:
In emergency cases, the Chairpersons of People’s Committees of all levels shall have the authority to mobilize human resources, materials, means, equipment and other property to serve dyke rescue work as regulated by the Ordinance on Public Labour Fund; and take decisions on evacuation of people to safe areas.
 

Article 25:
The Council of Ministers shall conduct state management of the dyke system in the whole country; state the orientation for the planning and development of dykes; regulate the conditions for dyke categories; decide on investment levels for dykes; issue policies on dykes; supervise the work of managing, using and rescuing dykes to be performed by authorities and sectors.

Article 26:
The Ministry of Water Resources shall be in charge of the planning and implementation of dyke management and flood control activities; of technical management of dykes; of checking, promoting and instructing authorities and sectors in implementing the policies and technical regulations concerning dyke protection.

Article 27:
The Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Floods and Storms, which is established by the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers, shall have the obligation to monitor and enhance the performance of activities related to prevention and control of floods and storms; to direct the handling of operations and consequences of floods and storms in the whole country.
The local committees for prevention and control of floods and storms at all levels, which are established by the Chairpersons of the People’s Committees of the same level, shall have the obligation to organize, check, and implement the plans for prevention and control of floods and storms; to direct the work of dyke rescue as well as overcoming consequences of floods and storms in their localities.
The committees for prevention and control of floods and storms of sectors, which are established by the Heads of the sectors, shall have the obligation to conduct activities of prevention and control of floods and storms within their sectors.

Article 28:
The provincial People’s Council, the People’s Committee and administrative units of similar levels shall be responsible for assuring the safety of the dykes in their locality in conformity with the technical requirements for dyke protection; building and planning for dyke construction and reinforcement; managing and rescuing dykes in their localities.

Article 29:
The Chairpersons of People’s Committees of districts, communes, wards, districts and townships shall be responsible for organizing the work of construction, reinforcement, management and rescue of dykes in their localities.

Article 30 :
A special force in charge of dyke management shall be employed by the State, managed and used by the People’s Committees of provinces, or administrative units of similar levels.
The Council of Ministers shall regulate the functions, tasks, and authority of the special dyke management force.
 

Article 31:
Organizations and individuals that make an outstanding contribution to the work of construction, reinforcement, protection and rescue of dykes shall be given spiritual and material compliments as per the regulations.

Article 32:
Those who damage dykes, drill, dig, split, use dykes illegally or violate other regulations of this Ordinance, depending on the nature and seriousness of their acts, shall be censured, punished or prosecuted by the penal code of the law.
 

Article 33:
All previous provisions that contradict this Ordinance are hereby annulled.

Article 34:
The Council of Ministers shall promulgate detailed regulations on the implementation of this Ordinance.
 
 

Hanoi, November 09, 1989 on Behalf of the State Council of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam President VO CHI CONG

(to be continued