Water works in cities and rural areas have been put into use but not at full capacity due to the inefficient management.
Water treatment at Quang Tay JSC., Ba Vi District.
The Program for Results (PforR) on rural water supply and sanitation, implemented in 8 provinces of the Red River Delta including Hanoi since 2013 with financial support from the World Bank (WB). Up until now, The program has disbursed roughly 100 million dollars to built 48 water works. Other 11 works are under construction and one is expected to be built next year. The works have supplied water to 132,700 households or approximately 39.05%of the population get access to clean water. This result has contributed significantly to the successful implementation of the national target program on building new rural areas in 8 provinces and cities in the project area.
Shortly after the completion of construction work, the project management boards of provinces and cities in collaboration with local authorities have actively disseminated to the public on piped water. However, according to the head of the coordination board of the rural water supply program Do Van Thanh (most of the water works are under-operating below capacity.
Water supply businesses in the cities and provinces are not working actively leading to the low water connection.
Involving social resources
The Vice Director of the National Centre for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (NCERWASS) – Nguyen Son Tung said three models of water supply management and operation are applied in in 8 provinces under the PforR project which are the management by NCERWASS, by private enterprises or by provincial water supply joint stock company. The three models are working and meeting the piped water demand of the people. However, water loss is still considerable with an average of 20%, in which the highest amount is 25%.
According to experts, the involvement of social resources and the management of private enterprises for water supply facilities operation has proven to be efficient. Four out of 8 provinces under the PforR project including Hanoi, Phu Tho, Ha Nam and Thanh Hoa have chosen private enterprises to operatethese facilities. At present, all the water works in Ha Nam, are handed over to private enterprises for management. Meanwhile, water facilities in Hanoi are temporarily under the management of Project Management Unit before handing over to prive enterprises. The Hanoi People’s Committee has instructed the Department of Agricultural and Rural Development to develop guideline for water works management after completion. The guideline will be made public so that private enterprises qualified for the criteria will be selected to operate the water works.
Source: hanoitimes.com.vn