VIENTIANE, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Lao Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Baikham Khattiya said the generous assistance both in cash and kind was timely and would help meet the urgent need in Attapeu province's Sanamxay district, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Thursday.
Baikham, also a member of the Lao National Ad Hoc Committee which has been set up to deal with the relief effort following the dam burst in Attapeu province, said on Tuesday, after attending a donation ceremony, that the committee would use all of the cash donated for the purpose of helping the flood victims, under the orders of the government, which had approved a budget of about 5 billion kip (some 588,000 U.S. dollars) for the implementation of this work.
All ministries and the committee will use the budget to supervise the provision of aid to the flood victims. The committee is giving about 500,000 kip to each affected family for their daily needs, she added.
Following the distribution of cash, the committee will evaluate the need for further assistance and whether any support is in keeping with families' actual needs. The assistance and support provided to those affected is invaluable, Baikham added.
She said the committee would need to assess the true needs of all those affected by the flood following the collapse of an auxiliary dam at the under-construction Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower plant.
This week, the committee ordered all provincial Disaster Management Committees, state and private organizations, as well as individuals throughout the country to give what they could to the aid fund and make any donations to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare.
On July 23, a saddle dam of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric power project, invested by South Korean, Thai and Lao companies, burst, unleashing 5 billion cubic meters of water from the mountain to 13 villages of Sanamxay district downstream the Xe Pian River, some 560 km southeast of Vientiane.
Six villages were almost submerged by the muddy flood with 13,000 villagers being affected. Till Monday, 11 people have been confirmed dead, 120 others remain missing in the accident.