Special edition  » The climate for change

Dao Anh Kiet, director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment and vice head of the city’s Climate Change Steering Committee, shows how a changing climate has impacted on his region.

How has climate change affected the city?

Ho Chi Minh City has been clearly hurt by climate change since 1998, when the city centre was heavily flooded by prolonged rains. Previously, rainfall of 100 millimetres appeared every three to four years. But, rains have occurred more frequently over recent years.

Mr Dao Anh Kiet

It is inevitable the city suffers from flooding, because its drainage systems, built a long time ago and only able to handle rains up to 50mm, are under repair. However, the situation is even worse due to saline intrusion menacing local freshwater resources.

An increase in diseases and dwindling residential and agricultural land caused by saline intrusion are other menaces. This has not been mentioned in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s “Climate Change and Sea Level Rises” scenarios.

The city has established a climate change steering committee. What are its action plans?

Ho Chi Minh City’s advantage is that it is less affected by droughts and storms than other areas. However, the ongoing climate change trend will gradually reduce this advantage. The municipal authorities have designed specific plans to mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts.

Between 2010-2025, stress will be laid on urban planning and energy sources, which are related to the effective use of renewable energy and agriculture with strengthened irrigation systems, waste and water resources management.

Besides, the city has also made a detailed programme for training staff. Accordingly, 40-60 young people, who have relevant expertise and foreign language skills, will be selected to set up groups whose major functions are to connect the municipal agencies and departments to protect the environment.

What has been done to mitigate the negative effects of climate change on Ho Chi Minh City?

To protect itself from flooding, the city is constructing a water drainage system including nine waste water treatment facilities. At present, construction of the city’s two waste water facilities, with total capacity of 170,000-200,000 cubic metres per day in Binh Tan and Binh Chanh districts, have been completed thanks to the city’s mobilised official development assistance fund.

The city has almost completed the specific planning of other environmental protection and anti-flooding projects. However, these projects could be revised in the long-term as they need to take climate change factors into account.

For the time being, Ho Chi Minh City is trying to mobilise capital for completing water treatment facilities in its 12 central districts. For rural districts like Can Gio, local authorities are considering whether to re-plan residential areas or build surrounding dykes in the most suitable way.

So far, the first stage of the environmental improvement project at the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal, including seven estuaries running to the Saigon River, has almost been completed and will come online next year. This canal will lift many areas in the city’s districts 1, 3 and Phu Nhuan and Tan Binh districts out of flooding. The second stage, which is under consideration, will focus on building waste treatment facilities.

Another project to build a waste water treatment system along the Tham Luong-Ben Cat-Vam Thuat canal is also being designed, with total investment capital expected to be VND14 trillion (US$777.7 million). After being completed, the project will be able to treat all waste discharged from residential areas in District 12 and Tan Binh, Go Vap and Hooc Mon districts and their surrounding production establishments.

Exhausted gases due to heavy traffic is seriously polluting the air. How has the city dealt with this problem?

In the short-term, it will be very difficult to solve the traffic jams because the local population has quickly increased from 1.5 million people to 10 million, while roads have failed to be improved. The most important measures to solve this problem are to open more roads and peripheral residential areas, while limiting immigrants entering the city. Moreover, more traffic law education programmes and heavier punishments for traffic law violations need to be designed.

What are the obstacles in the way of improving Ho Chi Minh City’s environment?

At present, information among the city’s sectors and departments is lax, making it difficult to plan projects. Moreover, a lack of human resources results in a long time for environmental projects to be appraised and approved. The city has also failed to make a data bank for its underground works, climate change indexes and planning data. This has made it difficult for urban planning and management.

If such problems fail to be resolved soon, the city will continue being faced with obstacles when it implements climate change response programmes.