The dearth of huge sums of money to move residents out of landslide – and natural disaster-prone areas makes it difficult for local authorities to meet the Government's target.

Families living in hundreds of landslide-prone areas and 60 river valleys threatened by floods were set to be moved to safe areas and helped with relocating, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Pham Khanh Ly, deputy director of the ministry's Department of Cooperatives and Rural Development, said it was impossible to resettle 600,000 households with 3.05 million people during these difficult economic times.

The ministry would spend VND15 trillion (US$721 million) to move only 125,000 families living in areas facing very high risks of floods and landslides by 2015, with 40 per cent of that money coming from local budgets, he said.

Each family living in deltas would get VND28 million ($1,300) to resettle, and those in mountainous areas, VND32 million, he said.

But many localities have said that their limited resources cannot cover the 40 per cent contribution they have to make, not to mention a shortage of land for moving households.

Au Dinh Chien, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of northern mountain Ha Giang Province , said relocated families would simply return to their old places if they were unable to cultivate on the land provided to them.

The amount offered by the ministry to help them move to new places was not enough for them to build new houses and begin a new life, he warned.

VNS