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/ June 19, 2021

Norway provides US$1.3 million for waste management project in Vietnam

Norway provides US$1.3 million for waste management project in Vietnam The Saigon Times A sanitation employee works at a garbage dump. Norway and UNDP have launched a new project to scale up integrated and inclusive waste management models in Vietnam - PHOTO: VNA HCMC - The Government of Norway will provide US$1.3 million for a project to scale up integrated and inclusive waste management models by empowering the informal sector and fostering the circular economy in Vietnam. The Norwegian Embassy in Vietnam and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) signed an agreement for the project on June 17. This three-year project is aimed at deploying and testing interventions, including direct support for informal waste workers and a management model in the fishery sector. It will also foster an ecosystem-level approach of value chains through the establishment of the Material Recovery Facility, which will be piloted in Quy Nhon City, Binh Dinh Province. The project is a continuation of the first phase of the successful Norway-funded project, “Scaling Up a Socialized Model of Domestic Waste and Plastic Management”, in five localities, Quang Ninh, Binh Duong, Binh Thuan, Binh Dinh and Danang. “We are very happy with the success of Phase 1 of the project and to see the project being expanded. It is great that more local communities, particularly women, will take part in the common efforts to tackle plastic waste and build a circular economy. This is very important in the context of the post-pandemic green recovery,” said Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam Grete Lochen. “Norway takes pride in our partnership with UNDP Vietnam and the Government of Vietnam to take action to combat plastic waste, build back greener and leave no one behind." Phase 2 of the project responds to the need for scaling up local waste and recycling collection centers that respect environmental and social standards, while engaging the informal sector in waste collection …

/ May 9, 2021

“Second Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal” in the pipeline

“Second Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal” in the pipeline The Saigon Times A scene of Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal - PHOTOS: THANH HOA The project to improve the water environment of the Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal system is one of the most ambitious environmental endeavors in HCMC since 1975. Once the most polluted canal system in this city, Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe, which used to be lined with slums on its bank and whose unmistakably pungent smell was unbearable, has undergone a sweeping change to become a symbol of the efforts to improve environmental pollution in HCMC. Now that the preparations for the project to clean up and renovate the environment of the Tham Luong Canal – Ben Cat – Nuoc Len Canal system is being completed, it is expected to become another Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal system, reported Tuoi Tre newspaper. Stretching on a total length of 33 kilometers, the Tham Luong Canal – Ben Cat – Nuoc Len Canal system is the longest of its kind in HCMC. The system runs across seven districts, including Binh Chanh District, District 12, Go Vap District, Tan Binh District, Tan Phu District, Binh Tan District and Binh Thanh District. In fact, this project is not totally new as the city government once tried to implement it to improve the heavily polluted environment along this canal system. In 2016, the second phase of this project was approved with construction scheduled to begin in 2017. However, in that year, the World Bank, the project’s then money lender, withdrew, and it has been stalled since. A project to benefit many But it has revived. The HCMC People’s Council has recently given the green light to the investment in cleaning up the Tham Luong Canal – Ben Cat – Nuoc Len Canal system. Of the estimated fund for this environmental plan worth VND8.2 trillion, some VND4 trillion will be sourced by the central Government’s budget and the rest from the municipal budget. Scheduled to be implemented during 2021-2025, according to Tuoi Tre, the …

/ May 17, 2021

HCMC to spend VND8 trillion more on anti-flooding projects

HCMC to spend VND8 trillion more on anti-flooding projects The Saigon Times A motorcyclist wades through a heavily flooded street in HCMC after heavy rain. HCMC has plans to kick off 12 anti-flooding projects worth over VND8 trillion this year – PHOTO: VNA HCMC – The HCMC Department of Construction has sent a plan to the municipal government proposing that the city kick off 12 anti-flooding and environmental cleanup projects worth over VND8 trillion (US$348 million) in total this year. The 11 anti-flooding projects and one environmental cleanup project are scheduled for completion before 2025, according to deputy director of the HCMC Department of Construction Dang Phu Thanh. Thu Duc City has the highest number of projects, with three projects on Road No. 8 and Nguyen Duy Trinh and La Xuan Oai streets costing a total of over VND455 billion. HCMC has carried out a dozen anti-flooding projects in recent years, but many of them have lagged behind schedule. The city’s biggest anti-flooding project, which costs some VND10 trillion, has been 96% complete. However, it has been suspended since mid-November last year. The build-transfer contract for the project between Trung Nam Group's subsidiary Trung Nam BT 1547 Co., Ltd, the investor of the project, and the HCMC government, which was signed on November 18, 2019, expired on June 26, 2020, but the two sides have yet to sign an appendix to extend the deadline of the project. Therefore, the project has no legal foundation to continue. The tardiness in signing the appendix was attributed to the disagreement between the two sides over the payment method. Fast urbanization, an aging drainage system, the overexploitation of underground water and a large amount of garbage discharged into rivers and canals have made the city unable to address flooding-related problems. Professor Le Huy Ba, former chairman of the Science, Technology and Environmental Management Institute, said most anti-flooding …