Climate change impact worsening in Kien Giang
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Vietnam steers towards better water for everyone

Illustrative image -- File photo

Although a water supply project started in the district last year, due to limited funding it could only supply water for around 5,000 households in five communes of the district.

The VND147 billion (US$3.4 million) project was funded by the World Bank, to which Kien Giang Province contributed 19 per cent.

Nearly 4,000 other households in the district still lack access to clean water, according to Nguyen Thanh Binh, director of Kien Giang Province's Clean Water Centre.

Most of the households in need of clean water were living far from main roads, he said, adding that in many rural areas, it was difficult to build water pipes, so these areas were not included in the project.

Le Thi Hanh, 44, living in Bay Bien Hamlet, Nam Thai A Commune, said her family was one of 200 families in this coastal commune who always lack clean water during the ongoing dry season.
“The 200 households hope the water project can be extended to supply us with clean water.”

“We have to take water from the canal for daily use. We crave fresh water," she said.

Many people in Sau Bien and Xeo Doi hamlets have drilled wells but the water is dirty.

According to Nguyen Van Tien, Vice Chairman of Nam Thai A Commune People's Committee, it was the most remote commune of An Bien District.

Tien said nearly half of the commune's 2,000 households have access to clean water thanks to the project, but the remaining 1,000 households still lack clean water.

To help meet demand of local residents, the province's Clean Water Centre will study and develop a water supply plan and submit it to provincial authorities, according to the centre's director Binh.

Initially, the centre would earmark its own funds to provide tanks for people to store clean water and then install more pipes to supply water for those areas where pipes can be built, he said.

VNS