Kon Tum, June 8 (VNA) – The Central Highlands province of Kon Tum supported nearly 10,000 ethnic minority and poor households in obtaining housing and farming land and accessing clean water from 2014 to May this year, reported the provincial Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs.

The support, part of efforts to realise a Government decision in assisting disadvantaged households in remote and poor localities with land and clean water, was made at a total cost of 28.1 billion VND (1.25 million USD), including 16.1 billion VND from the State budget and 11.8 billion VND borrowed from the Bank for Social Policies.

Kon Tum estimates that around 25,000 local households need land for housing and farming and clean water supply, requiring a total investment of 225.4 billion VND (10 million USD). This year, the province has been allocated 25.25 billion VND (1.13 million USD) for the work, including 15.25 billion VND sourced from the State budget and 10 billion VND to be shouldered by the local budget.

At a working session on June 8 with a delegation from the National Steering Committee for the Central Highlands, the provincial committee also reported that in the 2005-2015 period, the province received 7,114 ethnic minority families with 21,413 members who arrived for economic reasons, often due to a scarcity of land in their home province.

From 2006-2010, the locality conducted four projects to settle 9,657 migrants. Currently, Kon Tum is finalising a master plan for population arrangement for the 2015-2020 period that aims to settle 42,900 people.

Head of the Steering Committee for the Central Highlands Region Truong Van Ty praised the remarkable efforts and achievements that Kon Tum has made in the field.

He asked the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment to work closely with localities across the province to review available land, to help the needy in stabilising their lives towards sustainable poverty reduction.

VNA/VNP