The Vietnamese Prime Minister has approved a $154 million project on reducing water leakage and expanding water supply networks of Saigon Water Corporation (Sawaco) between 2011 and 2015. Of the sum, $138 million was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the government said on its website Oct 4. The project is aimed to expand Sawaco’s daily capacity to 2.39 million cubic meters in 2015 from the current 1.3 million and cut the rate of water leakage to 30%-32% from 40% currently by that year. Sawaco, the key supplier of tap water in Ho Chi Minh City, expects to benefit 1.07 million families in 22 out of 24 districts, equaling to 85% of the city’s total population, by the year-end. By end-2009, up to 1.03 million households in HCM City gained access to clean water, an increase of 349,717 ones against 2005. As of end-2009, the ADB provided over $8 billion for 87 projects and programs in Vietnam, including $3.15 billion disbursed, making the Southeast Asian country become its third largest aid recipient behind Bangladesh and Pakistan. (chinhphu.vn Oct 4)
