Water and sanitation
Water and sanitation infrastructure and facilities
Vietnam cancels water pipe deal with China supplier over quality concern
State-owned construction firm Vinaconex has backed out of a deal to use pipes from a Chinese company to fix an unreliable water supply system in Hanoi amid concerns over the quality of the replacement. Viwasupco, the water utility subsidiary of Vinaconex, said in a new statement ...
World Bank approves loan to poverty reduction fund
On 13 July, the Ministry of Finance signed a US$30 million agreement with the World Bank aimed at continuing to finance Laos’ Poverty Reduction Fund, improving livelihoods and upgrading infrastructure for residents of 150 rural villages in over 40 districts of 10 target provinces. The funding will ...
Drought relief campaign over: PM
The government’s emergency campaign to distribute water to some 2.5 million people affected by drought is over, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen declared on 25 May, though for development partners and humanitarian groups, drought relief efforts continue. Humanitarian and disaster reduction manager for Save the Children ...
Digging deeper wells costs more
Amid a devastating drought, the need to dig more, and deeper, wells is threatening to overwhelm the government’s relief budget. The cost of wells rises exponentially with depth. And as groundwater continues to drop, itself exacerbated by the digging of more and more wells, deeper is ...
Billions planned to stem water shortages
Mandalay Region government is to spend billions bringing drinking water to more than 100 villages that they fear could run dry over the next few weeks. U Myo, deputy director of the region’s Urban Development Department, said on 22 April that K172.45 billion provided by the ...
Gov't drought aid push underway
The Cambodian government on 25 April announced a range of assistance to help farmers affected by the worst drought the Kingdom has seen in 50 years. “The Ministry of Agriculture has researched rice and vegetables that are resistant to climate change,” said a ministry statement. “The ...
Low reservoir levels in Siem Reap affecting thousands
More than 1,000 families in Siem Reap province, Cambodia are facing clean water shortages as the water level at Baray Teuk Thla reservoir has fallen for the first time in several years due to the especially harsh drought conditions confronting the Kingdom in recent months. Keep ...
Open defecation still of great concern in Laos
Sixty two percent of people in Phongsaly province continue to practice open defecation which is higher than the national-level average rate of 40 percent. “Even where you are improving dietary intake and you have more diversified crops, where there is still open defecation, it has ...
Hadxaifong people to have clean water on tap in 2017
A huge number of people living in around 30 villages of Hadxaifong district, Vientiane, will have clean water coming from their taps next year after a local company completes the construction of the Thadeua water treatment plant. Work on the project began last year and is ...
Vietnam pushes for regional center to share Mekong River resources
Vietnam is willing to cooperate with China and other riparian countries to establish a cooperation center for sustainable use of the Mekong River’s water resources, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh said, the Greater Mekong Subregion is facing major security and development challenges, especially pollution, ...