Gyeongnam Province Requests National Compensation from Ministry of Environment for Last Year's Dam Downstream Flood Damage

Proposal for Measures Regarding the Promotion of the Namgang Dam Flood Control Capacity Enhancement Project

On the 26th, Gyeongnam Province visited the Water Resources Management Division of the Ministry of Environment and delivered a joint petition signed by the acting governor and the mayors and county heads of four cities and counties.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] Gyeongsangnam-do announced on the 27th that it requested the Ministry of Environment to compensate for the dam downstream flood damage with national funds last August.

Gyeongnam Province's Water Quality Management Division Head Jo Yongjeong and the heads of the four cities/counties?Jinju, Sacheon, Hadong, and Hapcheon?visited the Ministry of Environment's Water Resources Management Division to deliver a joint petition containing this request.

The joint petition, signed by the acting governor and the heads of the four cities/counties, included clarifying the fundamental cause of the flood damage (insufficient dam operation management), full national compensation for residents' damages, prompt compensation to help affected residents return to daily life, integrated management linking dams and rivers with increased national budget investment, establishment of state-supported local rivers, and comprehensive national maintenance of local river sections affected by national rivers.

These four cities/counties, located downstream of Namgang, Hapcheon, and Seomjingang Dams, suffered flood damage amounting to approximately 44.8 billion KRW due to heavy rain last August.

To assist the flood-affected residents, Hapcheon applied for environmental dispute mediation on the 12th of last month, and Hadong did so on the 3rd of this month, proceeding with damage relief procedures.

Jinju applied on the 16th and the Environmental Dispute Mediation Committee is currently reviewing the submitted documents, while Sacheon plans to apply by the end of this month.

Earlier, Gyeongnam Province supported flood-affected residents by holding explanatory sessions on the resident representative environmental dispute mediation system, operating a "visiting environmental dispute mediation counseling office," and providing consultation on environmental dispute mediation applications.

Accordingly, on the 3rd, the Ministry of Environment announced the results of an investigation into the causes of last year's flood damage, concluding that it was caused by a combination of factors including insufficient dam management, legal and institutional limitations, and lack of investment and maintenance in river prevention.

The investigation report also included measures such as actively supporting environmental dispute mediation procedures for residents' prompt return to daily life, revising dam management regulations and guidelines, and strengthening flood management measures to prepare for abnormal climate conditions.

Along with this, Gyeongsangnam-do reiterated its opinion that the Namgang Dam flood control capacity enhancement project should proceed only after preparing measures acceptable to the residents.

A petition containing measures to address expected flooding and fishery damages resulting from this project was also submitted.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.