The environment cleaning project phase 2 in Vietnam’s southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City has saved $78 million after bidding from the initially expected capital of $524 million, said representative of investor Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Projects Management Unit on May 14. The mega project had its groundbreaking in February 2017 and might finish in 2023. It was financed $450 million from the World Bank (WB) and the rest from the city budget. The project will contain long treatment pipes and the country’s largest water filtering plant with an estimated capability of 480,000 cubic meters per day. The representative informed that the saved amount of capital came from the low prices of several bidders while they are still able to comply with the rules. The state inspectorate inspected the auction process and confirmed no infringements against the WB’s instructions on purchase and Vietnam’s regulations. The HCMC People’s Committee has given the go-ahead to allocate this bulk amount for supplemented investment in other parts of the project, including hi-tech sludge handling, an environmental learning center (ELC), and a solar power system at sewage treatment plant Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe. This move aimed to create a closed wastewater and mud treatment with safety and limited stingy smell for nearby residential clusters. (Lao Dong, VietStock, Hanoi Moi, vcci, VnExpress)
