On the morning of December 30, the 7th session of the An Giang Provincial People's Council entered the direct question-and-answer session at the parliament.
Opening the question-and-answer session, delegate Tran Thi Xuan Yen raised the issue of rural clean water, how to increase the rate of people in rural areas using standard clean water.
Regarding this issue, Mr. Le Huu Toan - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment - said that taking care of people's lives is of great concern. The specialized sector is accelerating the implementation of projects, including rural clean water projects. Since the merger of the 2 provinces, the Department has directed to review the entire system and the current situation of rural clean water.
For the An Giang water supply area before the merger with the province: An Giang rural area has 44 communes, with 3 clean water supply management models. With a total of 148 projects serving 58,577 households in 21 communes, the rest are businesses and cooperatives 105 projects.
The rate of households using hygienic water is 99.94%, the rate of households using clean water according to standards is 97.60%, and the remaining 3% are mainly in remote and isolated areas.
For the Kien Giang water supply area before the merger with the province: there are 41 communes and 3 special zones, there are 3 clean water supply management models with a total of 90 projects, serving over 97,000 households in 38 communes, the rest are businesses and People's Committees of communes.
The rate of households using hygienic water is 99.8%; the rate of households using clean water according to standards is 65.43%.
After the merger, by the end of 2025, the rate of households using clean water meeting standards reached 82.01%. In 2026, continuing to complete the projects being implemented in 2025, accepting and putting them into use in the first quarter of 2026 to serve over 7,000 households contributes to increasing the rate of households using clean water meeting standards to over 83%.
According to Mr. Toan, there are still some difficulties such as the merger of administrative boundaries (districts, communes) causing many difficulties in management; For the An Giang area (old), although the rate of households using clean water in communes is high, far exceeding the set target, this rate is not sustainable, because most centralized water supply projects have been in use for a long time, running out of capacity, and have deteriorated but have not been allocated investment funds for upgrading and expansion.
The Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of An Giang province said that the goal orientation is to strive to 2030, the rate of rural residents using clean water that meets standards is 89.5% with a minimum quantity of 60 liters/person/day.
Some specific solutions such as non-constructive solutions: Applying technology and smart equipment in managing and operating water supply systems, researching and selecting modern, environmentally friendly water treatment technology and equipment, saving energy and adapting to climate change conditions. Implementing the management, exploitation, use and protection of water resources to ensure sustainable operation of water supply works.
Regarding project solutions, Mr. Toan said: In the period 2026-2030, for Kien Giang area (before the merger), the province has approved the investment policy to upgrade, expand, and invest in new projects with a total estimated cost of 902 billion VND (building 19 new water supply stations; upgrading and expanding 26 existing stations, serving 47,937 households), to ensure the goal of "the rate of households using clean water from centralized water supply works reaches 55%", contributing to increasing the rate of rural population using clean water in the province to 89.5% by 2030 (of which Kien Giang area 77%, An Giang 99%).
For the old An Giang area, it is proposed that the province allocate about 550 billion VND to upgrade and expand 31 centralized water supply stations that have been in use for a long time, running out of capacity, and have deteriorated in the old An Giang area.
