Italian Ambassador to Việt Nam Antonio Alessandro  speaks at groundbreaking ceremony. — VNA/VNS Photo

TÂY NINH — Construction of a wastewater treatment plant partly funded by Italy's official development assistance (ODA) in the southern province of Tây Ninh commenced on Tuesday.

Covering an area of 63,462sq.m in Tây Ninh City with a design capacity of 5,000cu.m per day, the project consists of two main items - a wastewater treatment plant and a wastewater collection pipeline system.

The first phase of the project will cost over VNĐ335 billion (US$13.5 million).

Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Dương Văn Thắng highlighted the significance of the project for the locality as well as people living in Tây Ninh City in particular.

Once completed, the plant will collect and treat all wastewater from households in wards 1, 2, 3, 4 and a part of Hiệp Ninh Ward in Tây Ninh City.

The plant’s capacity is expected to increase to 10,000cu.m in the second phase.

Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Antonio Alessandro said that the start of the project is a success in the cooperation between Italy and Việt Nam.

He said the project is hoped to help improve the living conditions for about 150,000 local residents, improve local sanitary conditions, reduce infectious diseases and environmental pollution in Tây Ninh City.

Recently, Italy has helped Việt Nam to implement bilateral projects in areas of environmental protection and disaster risk reduction, health care, water resource management, urban water supply and drainage, and improving competitiveness of Vietnamese small and medium sized enterprises with a total funding of over 110 million euros (nearly US$114 million) with 90 million euros provided by Italy, according to the diplomat. — VNS