VietNamNet Bridge – A number of projects to supply freshwater to Mekong Delta (Cuu Long River Delta) provinces are still on paper as local authorities lack sufficient capital to implement them.

A representative of the Ministry of Construction (MOC), at a working session with the World Bank in late January, said the projects would benefit residents in the southwestern part of the Hau River, including the city of Can Tho, and the provinces of An Giang, Kien Giang, Ca Mau, Hau Giang, Soc Trang and Bac Lieu.

Under the project, two water supply plants would be built, Song Hau 1 and Song Hau 2, with a capacity of 400,000 cubic meters per day for each plant.

The plants would pump water from the Hau River, then process and provide it to local residents through an extensive pipeline system.

The project is believed to be the best solution to the long-term water supply problem in Mekong River Delta’s provinces, especially southwest of the Hau River.

Regarding project capitalization, Le Van Tuan, general director of VIWASE, a water and environmental service joint-stock company, and the MOC’s chief advisor, said the project, under one option, would cost $1.6 billion all items of the water supply system were built in the seven provinces and cities.

For the other option, investments would focus on five provinces and cities in the lower course of the Hau River, including Can Tho, Hau Giang, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau. This would need total capital of $717 million.

In the third scenario, several items would be developed to supply water to Can Tho and Hau Giang, which would cost $309 million.

Ousmane Dione from the World Bank at the working session promised to give financial support to help implement the project, but did not say how much capital the bank would provide.

He said he needed more detailed information to report about the project to the World Bank’s board of directors.

According to Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon, except for the two island districts of Phu Quoc and Kien Hai of Kien Giang Province, the southwestern part of the Hau River, which includes the seven provinces and cities, will lack at least 800,000 cubic meters of clean water for household daily use beginning in 2020. The figure would rise to 1.7 million cubic meters a day from 2030.

Experts have predicted that the Delta will be short of freshwater in the future because of climate change effects and an increasing population.

TBKTSG