VIENTIANE, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Flood victims in southern Laos' Attapeu Province are calling for urgent provision of housing, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Thursday.
Attapeu provincial authorities have urged contractors to speed up the construction of temporary housing in Sanamxay district, some 560 km southeast of Lao capital Vientiane, for completion in this January.
According to initial plans, construction of temporary houses for victims of the flood caused by the collapse of a dam at the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower plant was to be completed in last November but construction is still ongoing.
During a recent inspection of the construction project, Governor of Attapeu province Let Xayaphone stressed that companies must speed up the erection of temporary housing in Donbok, Pindong and Tamoyoth villages, which is expected to be finished in January.
Construction of 178 temporary houses in Donbok village is underway and 62 have now been completed with 125 families (523 people) having relocated there from Thasaengchanh village, 89 families have moved from Samong village to 15 completed temporary houses in Pindong out of a total of 90 under construction, another 176 families have moved from Hinlath village to 103 completed temporary houses in Tamoyoth village out of 196 under construction.
Provincial authorities have assigned 40 soldiers to help contractors expedite the construction of the temporary housing, said the report.
Temporary housing for flood victims is being built in Dongbak, Hadyao, Donbok, Pindong and Tamoyoth villages in Sanamxay district.
In the future, permanent dwellings, as well as essential infrastructure, will be built in Dongbak, Donbok, Tamoyoth and Pindong villages.
Altogether, there are 13 villages affected by the flood and a total of 13,067 people in these villages were affected.
More than 7,000 displaced people have been accommodated at five temporary centers in Sanamxay district while others have gone to stay with relatives in Attapeu and other provinces. Governor of Sanamxay district Bounhom Phommasane told Vientiane Times on Wednesday that the death toll from the flood stood at 42 while some 23 people are still missing.
An under-construction saddle dam of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project, collapsed on July 23 last yar, unleashing a large amount of water into 13 villages of Sanamxay district, leaving dozens killed and missing.
