Ca Mau seeks $57.5m to boost infrastructure

The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Ca Mau will need a total investment of VND1.185 trillion (US$57.5million) in the next six years to upgrade urban infrastructure of its capital Ca Mau City, according to the provincial People’s Committee.

The investment will be spent on replacing poor infrastructure in underdeveloped neighbourhoods, relocating residents living along banks of canals or in unsafe zones, and improving the management capacity of land, house and urban planning.

The project, which is expected to give a much-needed facelift to the city, involves roads, alleys, sewage systems, water supplies, electricity grids, housing, waste treatment and disposal.

It will also aim to reduce pollution and flooding, create more jobs, raise locals’ incomes, eradicate poverty and relieve disease.

It is estimated that more than 5,000 local households in low-income neighbourhoods in the city’s nine wards will benefit directly from the project. An additional 25,000 households will be affected indirectly.

The project is part of the national urban upgrade scheme approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung two years ago.

It aims to eradicate poor living conditions and improve living standards in low-income neighbourhoods in cities across the country.

Apart from Ca Mau City, other cities in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta selected for the scheme are Can Tho, Tien Giang Province’s My Tho, Dong Thap Province’s Cao Lanh, Kien Giang’s Rach Gia and Tra Vinh City in Tra Vinh Province.

The cities altogether need a total investment of $600 million, 35 per cent of which will come from the provinces’ budget and the rest to be lent by the World Bank.

For Ca Mau City, the project is set for appraisal next month and approval by the end of the year. It is expected to kick off early next year.

The project aims to help the southern most city reach Class 1 status by 2020.

Criteria for a Class 1 city require it to function as a socio-economic, political, cultural, technological and tourism hotspot while promoting socio-economic development throughout the region. Non-agricultural employment should incorporate 85 per cent of the total provincial work-force. City infrastructure should be developed and population size should be at least 500,000. Average population density should be no more than 12,000 people/sq.km.

Ca Mau City, with a population of more than 200,000, is one of the largest cities in the delta. The city is also among the country’s most vulnerable to climate change and rises in sea level.

Since August 2010, Ca mau City has been a second class city, of which the population must be at least 250,000 and non-agricultural employment makes up no less than 80 per cent of the work-force. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam Infrastructure