Workshop discusses legal framework for sustainable wastewater development

It was carried out by the Administration of Technical Infrastructure (ATI) in the  Ministry of Construction (MoC) and the Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

The workshop is conducted within the framework of the Vietnamese-German Wastewater Management Programme (WMP), implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The amended Orientation Plan was approved by the Prime Minister of Vietnam with Decision No. 589/QD-TTg dated 6 April, 2016, which replaced Decision No. 1930/QD-TTg dated 20 November, 2009.

The amended Orientation Plan aims to improve the legal framework for drainage development for the long-term, develop sustainable and comprehensive drainage and wastewater systems, increasing household connections and improve regular operation and maintenance of the system.

It sets the target of expanding the urban drainage and sewerage system service coverage to 70% by 2020 and 80% by 2025. By 2050, urban flooding will be eliminated and all wastewater will be treated to meet the government’s technical standards.

The workshop brought together 130 participants including vice chairmen of provincial and city people’s committees, leaders and officials from the provincial department of construction, wastewater companies, professional organizations, academies, and representatives from relevant departments from the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Finance.

In addition, representatives from the Flood Proofing Programme and Wastewater Programme of Vietnamese-German development cooperation, representatives from the Finnish-Vietnamese water and sanitation programme, as well as the Japanese - Vietnamese development cooperation took part in the workshop.

According to Dr Nguyen Hong Tien, Director General of ATI said that the amended Orientation Plan presents a number of key innovations, among others: elaborating  sustainable drainage development, river basin-based drainage management, promoting the combination of centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment solutions, storm water as a resource for reuse, utilization of lakes and ponds for flood control, application of advanced and environment friendly technologies for the drainage and wastewater sector and the payment for wastewater service user charges according to local regulations.

As part of the Wastewater Management Programme (WMP), GIZ has been supporting the Ministry of Construction in improving the legal framework for sustainable drainage and wastewater development.

The GIZ policy team provided concrete advice to ATI during the process of amending the Orientation Plan.

At this workshop, GIZ presented three assessment reports including the development of provincial drainage regulations, performance management contract and wastewater tariff roadmap.

These reports not only reflected GIZ experience and lessons learnt in 13 provinces of but also provided a practical process to  establish the local regulatory framework as well as provide clear recommendations to the Ministry of Construction.

The workshop provided an opportunity to review the implementation of Decree No. 80/2014/ND-CP on Drainage, Sewerage and Wastewater Treatment in the provinces and served as a forum for participants to discuss and share their experiences in the process of establishing, approving and implementing wastewater tariff roadmap, management contracts, provincial regulations on drainage and sewerage management, household connection expansion and other issues.

The participants also discussed the way forward to implement the amended Orientation Plan.