Only when you get involved do you realize.
Immediately after Typhoon Yagi (Typhoon No. 3) had just dissipated, leaders at all levels, organizations and unions from the central to local levels went to Van Don - considered one of the largest aquaculture centers in the country - to visit, encourage and find ways to support fishermen to overcome the natural disaster. The total damage suffered by Van Don fishermen was over 3,000 billion VND.
A series of meetings in Van Don, as well as in Ha Long, with the participation of many sectors, including the banking system, discussed solutions to support fishermen.
The People's Council of Quang Ninh province had to convene an extraordinary meeting to approve mechanisms and policies to support businesses and people severely damaged by storm No. 3, with a support package of up to VND1,000 billion.
The Van Don fishing community has just started to restore production, while waiting for financial support from the budget and commitments from banks. However, up to this point, no fishing household has received support money from the budget.
Ms. Lieu Thi Minh Luyen - a large oyster farmer in Van Don, who suffered about 6 billion VND in damage due to storm Yagi - said that after all the meetings and dialogues right after the storm, people only hoped to receive partial support, but so far have not received anything.
The 40 oyster farming lines that her family has just rebuilt, with a total capital of about 1.4 billion VND, of which only 100 million VND is borrowed from the Policy Bank; the rest is borrowed from relatives, friends and debt for buying seeds, raw materials...
Sharing with Lao Dong, some fishermen in Van Don said that they knew they would not receive much support, but so far they have received no support.
According to the representative of Van Don District People's Committee, the total area of aquaculture at sea is more than 3,000 hectares; after the storm, the district received 853 requests for support from fishermen. However, after the authorities at all levels and relevant agencies joined in the review, according to Decree 02, all aquaculture households were not eligible. The most problematic issue is that most households were not given water surface for aquaculture and did not have initial declarations, such as: Invoices for buying and selling seeds; invoices for buying raw materials to make cages, rafts, etc.
The whole district has 132 watercraft of farming households that were sunk, but after checking, they did not receive support from the budget, because they were all cement-hulled ships that were not registered or inspected.
Difficult to borrow money from banks
According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Hien - Director of the State Bank Branch in Quang Ninh - banks can only reschedule debts based on confirmation from authorities at all levels, but this is impossible because most households do not have original records and do not make initial declarations. However, banks have been restructuring debts to make new loans, even without collateral, but if there is a feasible plan, banks will still consider lending.
According to fishermen, accessing bank capital is very difficult, partly because many households lost everything after the storm, while their land use certificates and other valuable assets are still in the bank.
Mr. Dang Van Vinh - a fisherman in Cam Thuy ward, Cam Pha city - said that the damage after the storm was too severe, and at the same time, it was difficult to borrow money, so his family currently only has a few temporary cages of grouper and pomfret, in which the batch of birds is expected to be sold this Tet.
Representatives of some commercial joint stock banks in Quang Ninh also admitted that it is not easy to lend because of many binding regulations. If not complied with, when problems arise, they can be criminally prosecuted.
A representative of a commercial bank in Ha Long said that fishermen who want to borrow money must have a feasible plan and collateral. Unsecured loans are very small, only from 200-300 million VND, while the cost of aquaculture often reaches billions.
According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Hien - Director of the State Bank Branch in Quang Ninh, Decision 1510 and Circular 53/2024 of the Prime Minister and the State Bank of Vietnam, dated December 4, 2024, will support the resolution of problems related to debts of customers affected by storm No. 3.
Decision 1510 regulates the classification of assets, provisioning levels and risk provisioning methods for debts affected by storm No. 3. Circular 53/2024/TT-NHNN stipulates that credit institutions restructure debt repayment terms for customers affected by storm No. 3.
