Tran Hung Dao Boulevard in Lao Cai city, northern Lao Cai province. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The World Bank has recentlyapproved 53 million USD in funding for urban infrastructure development in twoemerging middle cities in northern Vietnam, Lao Cai (Lao Cai province) and PhuLy (Ha Nam province).
The financing will be added to the Medium CitiesDevelopment Project (MCDP), which has so far benefited over 210,000 people,exceeding initial targets. The additional investment will be used to bridge thefinancial gap caused by exchange rate fluctuations since the project inception.
The MCDP aims to improve infrastructure services,including water treatment and wastewater collection; flooding prevention in lowlying areas; transport services in areas with poor and non-existent roads oraccess to transport networks.
“The Medium Cities Development Project has shown that improvedinfrastructure services can transform communities – water and sanitationfacilities lead to healthier children and families; flood preventioninfrastructure provides opportunities to introduce much-needed public space;and better roads bring communities closer to economic opportunities. Thisadditional investment means even more communities will benefit from improvedurban environments,” said Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Vietnam.
The upgrading ofbasic infrastructure facilities such as sewer systems and rehabilitated roadshave helped 85,000 people in several wards of Lao Cai and Phu Ly cities.Flooding and pollution caused by wastewater have also been addressed throughimprovements of retention lakes, drainages and sewer system and construction ofWastewater Treatment Plants.-VNA
VNA
