VietNamNet Bridge - To implement the anti-flooding plan, HCM City needs VND100 trillion in capital, but it can arrange VND33 trillion only.

Many office workers in HCM City leave their office at 5 pm. But they sometimes may get home at 10 pm because of flooded streets and high tides. 

Do Tan Long from the HCM City Anti-flood Program’s Management Center has said that floods in the city would end if projects designed for 2016-2020 can be fulfilled and rainfall is not higher than predicted.

An analyst commented that both requirements are not within reach. It is very difficult to arrange such a huge capital for the flood prevention program. 

Meanwhile, the rainfall has increased sharply in recent years as a result of climate change which has gone far beyond the city’s drainage system’s capacity. 

Under the master plan on developing the city’s water drainage system by 2020, HCM City would focus on dredging and upgrading Tham Luong – Ben Cat and Xuyen Tam Canals, building seven waste water treatment plants, three water reservoirs and embankment system.

First-class sewers of the water drainage system are designed to bear rainfall of 85 mm at maximum of three hours, while smaller sewers rainfall of 76 mm which is equal to the high tide peak at +0.32.

Surveys have found that 63 percent of the city’s areas are at a height of lower than 7m, mostly in the districts of 5,6, 7, 8, Binh Thanh, Binh Tan and Nha Be. The low terrain hinders water drainage.

Regarding capital, Nguyen Hoang Anh Dung, deputy director of the HCM City Anti-flood Program’s Management Center, said VND67 trillion was now needed to build four waste treatment plants, three water reservoirs, and upgrade 200 kilometer long of sewers, eight high-tide control sewers and 12 kilometers long of embankment.

However, Dung admitted it was very difficult to call for investment.

He said investors had not shown interest in the projects, because they were not sure about the benefits. PPP (private public partnership) is believed to be a reasonable investment mode for the projects with public benefits, but there is no legal document guiding such implementation.

Some investors said they might consider implementing the projects if the city authorities allow them to exchange projects for land. However, the land fund in the city is now short.

Some other investors have suggested a mechanism under which the city authorities lease water drainage items from private investors and pay fees from the city’s budget. However, most proposals do not fit the current conditions.

NCDT