President inspects construction of monument dedicated to Gac Ma soldiers

President Truong Tan Sang arrived in Cam Ranh, Khanh Hoa province on July 11 to inspect the construction work of a memorial complex commemorating Gac Ma soldiers as part of his working visit to Khanh Hoa.

President Truong Tan Sang makes a field trip to Cam Ranh reservoir (photo: VNA)

The construction of the memorial complex began in March 2015 on an area of 2.5 hectares. The complex was initiated by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour with funds raised from trade unions, workers, organisations and benefactors in Vietnam and abroad.

President Sang underscored the significance of the memorial complex, saying that the complex aimed to pay tribute to soldiers who laid down their lives in the 1988 naval battle to protect Gac Ma Island of Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

He asked the project management board to ensure the progress and quality of the project in order to show gratitude to naval heroes, contributing to educating and nurturing the patriotism to the younger generations.

In the afternoon of the same day, the President visited family of Nguyen Ngoc Duc, who are responsible for a household model of high-quality production in Cam Hiep Bac commune, Cam Lam district.

Duc’s family has successfully transitioned from growing mango of low productivity to growing Australian mango of high yield. He has earned around VND600 million from the cultivation of two hectares of Australian mango.

Duc told the President about the serious shortage of water in the past months, which has reduced the productivity of the crops. He added that he could have earned VND700 million per hectare if there was enough water for the crops.

Amid the water shortage situation, the President visited Cam Ranh reservoir in Cam Tan commune, Cam Lam district, which holds a capacity of 22 million cubic metres and provides water for the daily life and agricultural production of 5,000 residents in the locality.

Due to prolonged drought, the water level of the reservoir reached a mere 5% of its average capacity, which stands at approximately 1.5 million cubic metres. According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, not only Cam Ranh reservoir but many other reservoirs in the province were in the same situation, furthermore there is a high possibility of drinking water shortages to occur in the near future.

President Sang requested local authorities to review the current water reserves in order to make appropriate adjustments along with calling on people to save water.
In addition, the province should convert to cultivating other types of crops and animals in line with the application of technology in production to save water.

He noted that the province could call on domestic and foreign investment in building huge reservoirs to deal with the regular water shortage situation.

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)