THANH HÓA — Hải Hòa Beach in Tĩnh Gia District in the central province of Thanh Hóa lacks facilities to ensure safety for swimmers and beach goers.
The Voice of Việt Nam (VOV) radio reported on Friday that though thousands of visitors flock to the beach daily during the summer, the province has hardly invested in works to ensure public safety.
At the Hải Hòa Beach, there is no beach observation tower, no warning system, no boats for search and rescue activities and the area where people can swim is not marked at all.
Vice chairman of the district People’s Committee Lê Thế Kỉ said a group of staff was assigned to patrol along the coast and deliver assistance to beach goers in emergency cases.
The district also asked the Hải Hòa Commune People’s Committee to build beach observation towers.
“Problems remained in managing the beach and ensuring public safety there. Local authorities are seeking solutions,” Kỉ said.
Colonel Lê Văn Cửu, director of the province’s Fire Prevention and Prevention Department, said the department sent fire fighters to the beach for search and rescue activities after seeing risks to public safety because of insufficient safety works.
On July 11, a 25-year-old man drowned while swimming at Hải Hòa Beach. He and his four friends were swept hundreds of metres off the coast.
For the last few years, Hải Hòa has been known as a beautiful beach in Thanh Hóa Province with abundant white sands, clean blue water and smaller crowds than at other beaches in the same province.
Visitors to the beach said that they chose to spend their summer vacations at Hải Hòa beach because of its beauty, quietness and reasonable service prices. Few people said they cared about safety measures and warning systems.
Thanh Hóa Province, with about 100 km of coast, has famous beaches including Sầm Sơn, Hải Hòa, Hải Tiến and Hải Thanh. Some beaches have been open for tourism with the advantage of natural beauty but also the disadvantage of poor infrastructure and little investment. — VNS
