High tides cause flooding on Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh Road, District 19, Bình Thạnh District, HCM City. The government of HCM City sought support from the Netherlands to adapt to climate change and rising sea levels in the city and Mekong Delta region. — VNA/VNS Photo Kim Phương

HCM CITY – The government of HCM City sought support from the Netherlands for climate change and sea-level rise adaptation during a recent meeting with Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Minister of Infrastructure and Environment of Netherlands, held in HCM City.

Lê Thanh Liêm, vice chairman of HCM City’s People’s Committee, told the minister that climate change adaptation, water management and saline intrusion prevention had become pressing issues for the city’s sustainable development.

“Currently, saline intrusion is not only a challenge for HCM City, but also for the Mekong Delta region. I hope that the Netherlands supports the city in dealing with this challenge. Our agencies will work with the Netherlands in applying new water filtering technology,” Liêm said.

HCM City and Rotterdam in March 2011 signed an MoU on climate change adaptation programme, which has been extended until 2018. The pilot has been implemented in HCM City’s District 4.

Liêm expects that Dutch government will support and call for investment to build a reservoir in District 4’s Khánh Hội Park.
Minister Schultz van Haegen suggested that beside the threat of saline intrusion in the city’s rivers, there are still several other issues such as pollution, household waste, industrial waste and others threatening the city.

Dutch experts said they were willing to provide consulting services and supply advanced equipment to help the city treat water for household use.

During Thursday meeting , the Steering Centre of Urban Flood Control of HCM City and Dutch Water Authority (DWA) signed an MoU for further co-operation to enhance capacity for the centre in the second period.
In Việt Nam, especially in the Mekong Delta and HCM City, DWA has co-operated with organisations in water management and climate change adaptation for the last three years. VNS