JICA helps Vietnam enhance water environment management in river basin

A coordination mechanism in water environment protection in the basin of Dong Nai River, along with a new river basin commission have been established, heard a meeting of the steering board of the “Strengthening capacity of water environment management in river basin” project on May 10. 

Ichiro Adachi, chief advisor of the JICA expert team, stressed the significance of the project in terms of sustainable management, saying a coordination mechanism is one of the most important factors in water environment management for river basins. 

At the working session, JICA experts suggested extending the duration of the project, which was previously scheduled for 2016-2018, to May 2019 to effectively transfer its outcomes.

Besides, the building of legal documents and establishment of river basin organisations are overdue. Moreover, the Vietnam Environment Administration is restructuring its organisation, leading to a change of agency in charge of managing river basins, they said. 

The project aims to improve central and local government's capacity in water environment protection in the provinces of Bac Ninh, Bac Giang and Thai Nguyen in the Cau river basin and Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces in the Dong Nai river basin.

The project is expected to calculate pollution load capacity in the area which will be used as a base for localities to coordinate water environment management and development activities.
According to Vo Tuan Nhan, Deputy Minister of the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam’s rivers, especially those flowing through cities, industrial parks and trade villages, are seriously contaminated.
To address the problem, Vietnam has promulgated many policies, mechanisms and legal documents in the field, and sought international assistance, of which the JICA project is an example, Nhan said.