Lien Huong and Phan Ri Cua are two adjacent coastal towns in the southern Vietnamese province of Binh Thuan. About 70,000 people live there; they live from trade, fisheries and agriculture. The two towns attract farmers from inland, who flee poverty and droughts. These migrants look for refuge in the overcrowded fishers quarters, in ramshackle houses that stand along dirty unpaved alleyways and have no drinking water, toilet or discharge . The inhabitants are not aware of the dangers of the unhygienic living conditions, which put a restraint upon the social and economic development of the region.

Tap water: 20 times cheaper

Together with local authorities BTC wants to tackle the problems and improve the living conditions of the inhabitants. To come to an integrated solution, work is done at different levels.

The Belgian-Vietnamese project invests in drinking water facilities and discharge infrastructure (sewers). In the poor neighbourhoods altogether 38 km of alleyways are paved and supplied with sewers . The authorities improve their service delivery by better organising waste collection; and finally the population is made aware via a whole series of social activities of the importance of carefully interacting with their environment.

In Lien Huong there is a brook that runs straight through the city. It functions as a catchment for waste water from the market and the surroundings. The neighbourhood’s inhabitants use the brook as a sewer for their domestic waste. The Belgian-Vietnamese project rehabilitated the brook and built underground sewers. Inhabitants can now dispose of their waste in containers, which are emptied on a daily basis. So, now, waste water and domestic waste are separated. The brook is not an unhealthy and stinking stretch through town anymore. On top of the encased sewers now there is a walking and cycling path, lined with trees on both sides. It has become a green lung in the town where kids can play safely.

In Phan Ri Cua the project builds a water tower and a new drinking water system. This way, the inhabitants do not depend on water vendors, who ask up to 20 times the normal price for a litre of drinking water.

1,800 poor families get credit through the project, so they can pay the connection to the water supply network and can install a toilet and a shower. These credits are managed by women’s organisations. Once the first credits are repaid, the money will be lent out again for additional sanitary improvements.

The Belgian-Vietnamese project also invests in domestic waste collection equipment. Through a better organisation of the city services and because the alleyways are paved now, waste can be collected from the homes. Outside town a new dumping site is developed, where waste is treated in an environmentally sound way. Two existing illegal dumping sites are cleared and closed, and the regained land is planted with trees.

Profitable future

The project, which started mid-2006, is supported well by all target groups concerned. Local authorities, government staff, the women’s organisations, schools and youth movements support numerous initiatives.

An open sewerage through town has now turned into a green walkway through town. The houses are easier to reach and thanks to the credit programmes the people themselves work towards a better life.

The project runs until the end of 2010. By then, the municipal company for water supply and sewage and waste treatment has to be transformed into a profitable economic entity and provide efficient service delivery.
 

• Vietnam
• Water & sanitation