Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong (left) and WB Country Director for Vietnam Ousmane Dione (right) take a fact-finding trip to District 2 where the second phase of a WB-funded environmental sanitation project is underway. (Photo: sggp.org.vn)HCM City (VNA) – Chairman of the Ho Chi MinhCity People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong and World Bank (WB) Country Directorfor Vietnam Ousmane Dione on November 22 took a fact-finding trip to the city’sDistrict 2 where the second phase of a WB-funded environmental sanitation projectis underway.
Following the trip, Phong said he was pleased to see theproject in good progress while expressing his belief that once completed, itwould improve the well-being of the city’s residents and help restore andprotect the ecosystem of the Sai Gon and Dong Nai Rivers.
Dione, for his part, spoke highly of the project’sprogress, saying the fact the city and WB leaders visited the project’s site togetherdemonstrates the strong commitment for cooperation between the two sides.
He expected the project would make HCM City moreresilient to pollution and environmental changes and turn it into a moresustainable and livable city, vowed to continue assisting Vietnam and HCM Cityin other environmental sanitation projects, and thanked local people for theirsupport during the project’s implementation.
The second phase of the HCM City Environmental SanitationProject, which began last year, focuses on improving wastewater services forthe entire Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Basin. It is planned to be completed by 2021.
The project involves the construction of a wastewatertreatment plant in Thanh My Loi Ward, District 2 and a 8-km sewer interceptorwhich will collect wastewater from Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe canal in the districtsof Binh Thanh, Go Vap, Tan Binh, Phu Nhuan, 1, 2 and 3 to the plant thendischarge into Dong Nai River.
The water treatment facility is designed to have a dailycapacity of 480,000 cu.m. Once completed, wastewater from the basin will betreated by the plant instead of being discharged directly into the Sai GonRiver.
The second phase will cost a total of 524 million USD, ofwhich 450 million USD is financed by the WB while the remainder comes from thecity’s budget.
It is expected to benefit more than 1.2 million residentsliving near the canal, which has been seriously polluted for years.
To date, about 30 percent of the project has been completedwith the disbursement of 256 billion VND (11 million USD).
The first phase of theproject started in 2003 and was completed in August 2012 with an investment of421 million USD, of which 294 million USD was sourced from WB’s OfficialDevelopment Assistance (ODA).
After 10 years ofdevelopment, the first phase has constructed more than 9 km of water interceptor,using pipe-jacking technology that has been applied in Vietnam for the firsttime, to improve the Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe canal’s drainage capacity.
About 1.1 million cubicmetres of soil was also dredged from the canal while 16 bridges were upgradedalong it. –VNA
VNA
