No choice, have to use dirty water
For many years, Mr. Nguyen Dac Linh's family (residing in My Chanh village, Hai Chanh commune, Hai Lang district, Quang Tri province) has had difficulty with clean water. According to Mr. Linh, because there is no clean water system, he currently has to use water from a drilled well.
“In the summer, the water runs out, we have to go down to the river to carry water by the can, and in the rainy season, the water is dirty. The well water is contaminated with alum, we know it is not safe for our health, but my family has no choice,” said Mr. Linh.
Similarly, Mr. Ho Hoa’s family (in My Chanh village) also does not have clean water to use. In recent years, many people in this village have died from cancer and the number of people with the disease is increasing. Therefore, Mr. Hoa is worried, believing that the use of dirty water is one of the reasons for the increase in diseases.
The situation of people having to use alum-contaminated water, which is not safe for health, occurs not only in My Chanh village but also in Ben Quan town (Vinh Linh district, Quang Tri province).
Mr. Pham Xuan Dung (head of Hamlet 3, Ben Quan town) said that hundreds of households here do not have enough water for daily activities in the summer, especially the alum and turbid water, which if used for a long time will not ensure health.
In Hai Chanh commune and Ben Quan town, there have been investments in building two clean water supply projects for a long time, but they have not been put into use and have been abandoned. Witnessing this waste, people are very upset.
Nearly 10 years, the problem has not been resolved
In 2014, Hai Chanh commune invested in building a water supply system; and Ben Quan town invested in building a Ben Quan booster station. These two projects were invested by Quang Tri Clean Water Joint Stock Company.
The Hai Chanh Commune Water Supply System alone has a total investment of 30.8 billion VND, of which Italy's funding is 8.3 billion VND, the counterpart budget is 19 billion VND and the people's counterpart is 3.6 billion VND. The project is expected to be completed and put into use from July 2015.
However, when the project was basically completed, the bidding package for materials and goods purchased and supplied to the locality by the Ministry of Finance had not been implemented, so the project could not be installed and put into operation.
Similarly, the Ben Quan Booster Station project was also completed but cannot be put into operation.
Mr. Duong Dinh Quang - Chairman of Ben Quan Town People's Committee - said that the fact that the booster station has not been used has made people very upset. The local government hopes that all levels and sectors will soon pay attention, invest, and complete the works and pipeline system to supply water to the people.
Responding to Lao Dong Newspaper on October 13, Mr. Le Duc Tien - Vice Chairman of Quang Tri Provincial People's Committee - said that the above two projects are part of the Balance of Payments and Water Sector Support Program funded by the Italian Government. However, due to difficulties, the Italian ODA Agreement has been suspended, leaving the project unfinished. Currently, Quang Tri Provincial People's Committee has signed a document to the Ministry of Finance, requesting to provide official information on the status of procedures for terminating the Balance of Payments and Water Sector Support Program Agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Italian side, and to guide the investor on related contents in completing legal procedures (if any) to terminate the agreement.
"After the Agreement ends, we will settle the completed items, restructure capital sources, invest and put the project into use, helping people escape the lack of domestic water" - Mr. Le Duc Tien informed.
