HCM CITY — HCM City’s People’s Committee has asked the Prime Minister and relevant agencies to approve an extension of the second phase of its environmental sanitation project (Nhiêu Lộc-Thị Nghè Basin) to 2030 as a foreign contractor has yet to be selected.

The project’s second phase has investment cost of more than US$524 million, of which $450 million is from World Bank loans and $74 million is from the city’s budget.

The second phase, which began last year, was initially planned to be completed by 2021. It has two main stages, including package XL-01 and package XL-02.

A foreign contractor for package XL-02, which is under the design-build-operate (DBO) model has yet to be selected, causing delays, according to the city’s People’s Committee.

Package XL-02 consists of a wastewater treatment plant for the Nhiêu Lộc-Thị Nghè Canal in District 2’s Thạnh Mỹ Lợi Ward, with a capacity of 480,000 cubic metres per day.

In February last year, the management began construction of package XL-01, which includes building an interceptor around eight kilometres in length and with a diameter of 3.2km, a new drainage system, and a wastewater collector sewer for District 2.

The Nhiêu Lộc-Thị Nghè Basin project plays a key role in the city’s socio-economic development as one of the city’s large-scale environmental projects.

The project’s first phase, started in 2003 and completed in 2012, cost VNĐ8.6 trillion ($421 million).

The project included construction of a 9-kilometre long water inlet sluice with a diameter of 2.5-3 metres. It also dredged 1.1 million cubic metres of soil in the canal, and upgraded and expanded streets and bridges along the canal.

Covering about 33 square kilometers, the Nhiêu Lộc-Thị Nghè Canal runs through districts 1, 3, 10, Phú Nhuận, Tân Bình, Gò Vấp and Bình Thạnh.

The project is expected to benefit over 1.2 million residents living near the canal, which has been seriously polluted for years. — VNS