Flood kills 15 in Laos, causing damage worth US$62 mln
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Xinhua, July 22, 2011
Flooding and landslides triggered by tropical storm Haima have killed at least 15 people, and caused damage estimated at more than 500 billion kip (around 62 million U.S. dollars) in Laos' Xayaboury, Xieng Khuang, Borikhamxay and Vientiane provinces, local media reports said on Thursday.
The storm occured last month also destroyed large areas of agricultural land, people's houses, temples, public roads and other infrastructure, and posed huge difficulties for search and rescue work.
"Dozens of houses were swept away and it will take some time for authorities to restore the economy and help people deal with the psychological impact of the disaster, especially those who lost family and friends," the state-run Vientiane Times quoted Sinuan Sengphimthong, director of Vientiane province's Labor and Social Welfare Department, as saying.
The flood left people without enough food, clean water and medicines, and although the province has provided necessities to victims, it still isn't enough to meet the demand so more donations are needed to relieve the continuing hardship, Sinuan said.
The devastating flood has made it even tougher for locals during the current period of rising inflation, and the Lao government is facing increasing pressure to address these two issues.
Leeber Leebuapao, acting director general of the Lao National Economic Research Institution, told local media recently that a shortage in the supply of goods is adding upward pressure on inflation in the country.
Rising inflation due to higher fuel prices has driven up the cost of food in the landlocked country, while damaged roads are making the supply of goods to markets more difficult.
Leeber said it is an urgent priority of the government to repair damaged irrigation systems and other essential infrastructure, and provide assistance to farmers to enable them to replant rice and other cash crops to ensure a sufficient supply of food to markets.
According to the latest Consumer Price Index figures from the National Statistics Bureau, the inflation rate reached 9.76 percent in May, higher than the projected GDP growth rate of around 8 percent for this fiscal year.
Leeber urged involved sectors like the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Finance, Bank of Laos, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to increase efforts to curb rising inflation otherwise the country will face an economic downturn in the future.
