Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat has asked the World Bank to provide loans to help fund HCM City’s flood control plan, known as Project 1547.

On March 17, Phat and representatives of the city’s People’s Committee and the World Bank visited several flood-prevention projects in the city.

The plan for Project 1547 includes the building of a river dyke system and tidal sluices to control tides at the mouth of big rivers and canals.

The proposed 146-km dyke system runs from Ben Suc in Cu Chi district to the Kinh Lo River in Long An province.

The city has already built a dyke along the right bank of the Sai Gon River and sluices, including the Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe, Biình Trieu, Rach Tra, Vam Thuat and other small sluices, according to the HCM City Steering Centre for Flood Control.

Project 1547 has helped to prevent floods in these areas, but, downstream of Thu Duc district, where the project has not been implemented, rain and high tides have caused severe flooding.

This area has also had the highest incidence of riverbank erosion in the city, accounting for six of the city’s 29 erosion prone sites. The dyke section in this area is about 11km long, and investment is estimated to be 2.6 trillion VND (123 million USD).

In the near future, the city will build four tidal sluices at Kinh, Phu Xuan, Vam Thuat and Tan Thuan rivers.

It will also build dykes and dredge rivers and canals in the city’s low-lying areas and southern area.

However, the city continues to struggle to find investment capital.-VNA