The Vietnamese government has approved the national target program on rural clean water supply and environmental sanitation for the period of 2011-2015, with total investment of more than VND54 trillion ($2.83 billion). Of the sum, VND21.8 trillion will be used for water supply and VND25.6 trillion for sanitation, the Kinh Te Viet Nam & The Gioi newspaper reported July 8. The program to be mainly carried out in remote areas, coastal and drought-prone provinces aims to improve living conditions of rural locals and raise their awareness of the environmental protection. The previous five-year period costs VND22.6 trillion, including VND3.2 trillion from the state budget and VND3.4 trillion from international organizations. As results of the program’s 2006-2010 period, about 63% of rural households are estimated to have had hygiene latrines and 85% of rural population to have had access to clean water by the end of 2010.
