WB funding helps to protect Red River’s banks

The Management Board for northern waterway projects held a ground-breaking ceremony to build the embankments that protect the Red River’s banks in Phu Tho Province.

The Management Board for northern waterway projects held a ground-breaking ceremony to build and upgrade the embankments that protect the Red River’s banks in northern Phu Tho province on April 15.

As part of a World Bank (WB) project to develop transport in the northern delta region, the VND300 billion (USD14.3 million) package includes four contracts to build embankments and dredge the river to protect four sections of the rivers banks, with a total of 62 km.

The Huyen Minh Construction Joint Stock Company and a joint venture between the Agricultural and Rural Development & Construction Corporation and the Thanh Xuan Infrastructure Construction JSC will jointly implement the work.

The WB project will cost over USD200 million with USD170 million coming from WB loans and the remainder provided by the Vietnamese Government.

According to Le Huy Thang, the General Director of the Management Board for northern waterway projects, several major waterways and small ports along the Red River in the northern region will be upgraded to reduce transport costs and enhance the quality of transport services, improve local people’s living standards and boost the region’s socio-economic development.

The entire project is scheduled to be completed and in operation by 2014, he added.