HCM CITY —  An eight-year-old boy was missing as of late Monday afternoon following prolonged heavy rains, which flooded streets in the southeastern province of Bình Dương on Sunday.

The boy, Hoàng Xuân Hiếu, from Bình Dương’s Dĩ An Town was swept into a manhole on Street No.4 at about 4pm, according to witnesses.

The province’s rescue forces have mobilised hundreds of people to help find the boy.

In Bình Dương’s Thủ Dầu Một City, heavy rains flooded many streets, including Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai Street and National Highway No.13.

National Highway No.13 in Thuận An Town was flooded up to 0.5 metres in some sections.

Rain water swept about six motorbikes travelling on Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai Street into nearby fields. The province’s rescue forces rescued the six drivers, who had been swept out into the field by about 100 metres.

In HCM City, heavy rains and high tides on late Sunday afternoon flooded at least 18 streets until about 9pm, according to the city’s Water Drainage Company.

Many streets, including Nguyễn Xí, Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh, Xô Viết Nghệ Tĩnh and Đinh Bộ Lĩnh in Bình Thạnh District; Văn Việt and Đỗ Xuân Hiệp in District 9; and Huỳnh Tấn Phát in District 7, were submerged under 20-50 cm of water.

A section of an embankment on TX25 Street in District 12’s Thạnh Xuân Commune broke, flooding dozens of houses and more than 10 ha of vegetable plants and ornamental trees.

Thạnh Xuân Commune authorities have mobilised more than 70 people to help protect  flooded houses.

High tides at the downstream of the Sài Gòn – Đồng Nai River were estimated to peak on October 17-18, according to the Southern Centre for Hydrometeorology Forecasting.

Support from Japan

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has announced it will fund US$211 million to help HCM City tackle flooding next year. Japanese-Vietnamese firms (SPC) will be established to implement each part of the project.

Mitsui Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Shimizu Corporation and Maeda Corporation are among the firms that will participate in the project.

In addition to offering low-interest loans, JICA will be involved as a private investment company.

The project will be implemented in flood-prone neighborhoods along Sài Gòn River, about 10 kilometres away from the city centre in areas that have had neither embankments nor quality sewage systems.

An 8.1 kilometre-long canal will be built along the sewage system, creating a wide, open area of 61 hectares. Japanese firms will then build a 20-storey apartment building in the area for 24,000 households, to be completed in 2022.

The city will receive some of the funds in advance to build dykes, roads and sewage systems and prepare for resettlement of families living in affected neighborhoods.

If flood-related problems can be solved, especially during the country’s period of rapid urbanisation,  HCM city would continue to progress well, Japanese investors have said.

Besides Việt Nam, similar projects will be conducted by Japanese firms in other Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar and Cambodia.—VNS