(VOVworld) – Cold weather seriously damaged crops and killed many head of cattle in Vietnam’s northern mountain provinces last week. The Prime Minister has asked ministries and local administrations to take necessary measures to help people restore their production and stabilize their lives.

A cold spell, the most serious in many years killed more than 9,000 heads of cattle and 43,000 poultries and damaged 27,000 hectares of rice and subsidiary crops and 712 hectares of seafood. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said: “Preferential bank loans should be given to help people restore their production. Strict oversight is needed.”

Under the Prime Minister’s decision, people in the 14 most affected provinces and cities will receive financial aid to buy animal breeds and seedlings. 80% of the money will be taken from the state budget, the rest from the local budget.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has sent a number of workgroups to help people in affected provinces minimize losses. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said: “We are asking banks to delay loan payments for households whose animals died during the latest cold spell. We’ll continue to organize fieldtrips to help farmers restore their production.”

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is working closely with the steering committee for the northwestern region to devise new policies on livestock breeding there. The Ministry of Health has instructed local clinics to reserve adequate medication and organize free medical check-ups and treatment. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs is overhauling poverty in affected provinces to ensure that no one goes hungry, particularly policy beneficiaries, and poor households. The Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, and commercial banks have deferred loan payments for people in affected areas.