The meeting aimed to discuss, guide and answer difficulties and problems of the province in the initial phase of operating the 2-level local government model.
At the meeting, Chairman of Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee Pham Anh Tuan said that after more than 1 month of implementing the 2-level local government model, the province is facing many difficulties.
The problems are mainly concentrated in 3 groups of issues such as: Coordination between the provincial and commune levels is not synchronous and lacks unity; the team of commune-level cadres lacks and is weak in expertise, especially in the fields of land, environment, irrigation management, natural disaster prevention, leading to confusion and overload; many agricultural infrastructure projects and land databases are overlapping and interrupted due to having to re-implement procedures after the merger.
To overcome this, the province has developed a plan to second about 30 officials and civil servants of the enterprise sector to the commune level to directly support and guide. The province is also making efforts to standardize data and digitalise red books to ensure connectivity, combining technology and manual measurement in land use.
Faced with the above situation, the Chairman of the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee proposed that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment open online training courses specializing in professional skills, helping Gia Lai province's officials perform their professional tasks well. At the same time, promptly issue national standards on building a land database to connect with a population database.
Regarding irrigation, Mr. Tuan suggested that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment direct the acceleration of procedures and start construction of approved key projects such as Ia Thul Reservoir (VND 4,024 billion) and Ia More Branch Canal System (VND 2,025 billion). At the same time, considering including urgent projects such as upgrading Dinh Binh reservoir (1,200 billion VND), Tan An Irrigation - Da Dam Phase 2 (800 billion VND) and projects to prevent riverbank erosion.
Mr. Tuan emphasized that the implementation of the irrigation system and upgrading the reservoir is urgent. "With water, people will be out of hunger," said Mr. Tuan, recommending the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to consider the program to upgrade dams to reservoirs for the Central Highlands region, especially Gia Lai.
Concluding the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep acknowledged the recommendations of the province and said that he would synthesize and report to competent authorities for consideration of support. In particular, the Dinh Binh Reservoir Upgrade Project will be implemented soon by the Ministry, becoming the first reservoir in the Central region to be upgraded with the goal of best flood prevention.
The Deputy Minister suggested that Gia Lai province direct localities to strengthen coordination with the unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to speed up site clearance, complete environmental impact assessment dossiers, and start the Ia Thul Reservoir project in November 2025. At the same time, promptly complete the dossier, strive to approve the investment policy for the Ia More Branch Canal System project in 2025.
The Deputy Minister noted that there is currently very little room for reservoirs in Gia Lai, while the province's irrigation capacity is among the lowest in the country. Therefore, the province needs to coordinate with the Ministry to review and select dams that can be converted into reservoirs for early implementation.
