By the end of June, 84 percent of the rural population was using water from water plants, but only half of them had access to clean water that meet the criteria issued by the Ministry of Health.

The information was released by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang at an online conference in Hanoi on July 24.

The Government has set to provide clean water to 85 percent of rural people by 2015 under a national programme.

However, many areas lacked effective water supply master plans and local authorities were not managing the situation adequately, said Thang.

Taking northern Hai Duong province as an example, about 40 communes and 30 schools in the province lacked access to clean water, said Nguyen Anh Cuong, vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee.
Cuong named the shortage of investment as the reason behind the problem.

Funds from private businesses and individuals account for only 7.2 percent of the clean water programme’s resources, below the original goal of 11.2 percent.

At the conference Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai asked relevant ministries and sectors and local authorities to revise their policies to attract more investors.

He mentioned the Public-Private-Partnership models as one productive methods.-VNA