HCM City borrows $400 million in fight against flooding

By Trung Son   May 11, 2016 | 12:02 am PT
The money will be spent on multiple anti-flooding projects in Ho Chi Minh City over the next five years.

Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee has approved an investment project to manage the risks of flooding in the city from 2016 to 2021. The total funding for the project comes from a $400 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development under the World Bank. In addition, the People’s Committee will contribute $37 million in counterpart funds.

The funds will be spent on large infrastructure projects, including six water quality monitoring stations, sewers, river locks, embankments and upgrades to the drainage system in Go Vap district.

Under the project, the city will install five weather stations, one weather radar station, 80 rainfall stations and 20 hydrological measuring stations; upgrade meteorological models and its flood forecasting model; and establish a center to collect, store and publicize flooding data.

In recent years, HCM City has invested trillions of dong into anti-flooding projects. However, little improvement has been seen due to urbanization, climate change and insufficient funding, according to the People’s Committee.

Last August, former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the city to focus on reducing flooding over the following five years. The city has been afforded special treatment on this matter to accelerate the work needed to prevent flooding. 

 
 
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