'Within 6 months, we must ensure the provision of clean water services to all households in Vinh city in need…'

On the morning of October 15, Vinh City People's Committee held a working session on the issue of clean water supply for local people. Attending the meeting were the Steering Committee for Safe Water Supply and Prevention of Water Loss and Revenue Loss of Nghe An Province; representatives of the Department of Construction and related specialized departments; departments, offices and units under Vinh City People's Committee; leaders of Vinh Tan Ward, Nghi Duc and Nghi An communes and Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company. Mr. Le Sy Chien - Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee chaired the meeting.

Many problems and difficulties

At the meeting,Vinh City Urban Management Departmentreported an overview of the tap water supply situation in the city; the signing of the Water Supply Service Agreement and the establishment of the Water Supply Development Plan with Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company; the flushing, connection and acceptance of the operation of the pipeline system invested by the city in Vinh Tan ward and two communes of Nghi Duc and Nghi An...

Accordingly, as of October 2024, the rate of tap water supply in the city has only reached about 88%, not commensurate with the water supply pipeline system that has been invested in and built, not meeting the target set by the 24th City Party Congress.

In Nghi An commune, the construction investment has been completed and the pipeline system has been connected, cleaned, and disinfected to meet the conditions for supplying water to the people (except for Kim Phuc hamlet because it is located in the Vinh Airport planning area).

However, up to now, only 51/2,346 households have been provided with tap water service, while 1,300 households have a need and have submitted a request to be provided with tap water.

In Nghi Duc commune, the pipeline system was invested in 2019 with 54 routes, however, 27 routes have not been flushed, disinfected, or pressure tested; only 35 households on 3 routes have been provided with tap water services by Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company, while 100% of households in the area have a need to use tap water.

At the meeting, the leader of Nghi An commune said that the construction and water supply project will be completed in early 2024 with a total length of nearly 80 km of pipelines, of which 30 km are level 2 pipelines, the rest are level 3 and level 4 pipelines.

After being flushed and connected to the primary system, the entire pipeline system in Nghi An commune has water. People only need to start and install the meter before they can use it.

In March 2024, after working and receiving instructions on the process of registering for connection and meter installation from the water supply company, Nghi An Commune People's Committee deployed to the people to register for water supply. However, with more than 1,300 water supply registration files of the people in the commune, only more than 170 applications were valid. The reason is partly due to problems with administrative procedures.

Specifically, in Nghi An commune, many households have not been granted Land Use Right Certificates; some households have Land Use Right Certificates but are mortgaging them to borrow capital from banks. Therefore, people face difficulties when they cannot meet the requirements for documents as prescribed by Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company. In addition, the one-stop department of Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company does not fully update the documents submitted by Nghi An commune, the provision of clean water services to households that have completed their documents is very slow...

"The demand for clean water in Nghi An is very high. We request that attention be paid to handling these problems to solve the clean water problem, helping the Party Committee and the government maintain the trust of the people..." - Mr. Chu Van Mai - Chairman of Nghi An Commune People's Committee suggested.

For Nghi Duc commune, clarify further the difficulties and problems in the work of cleaning and disinfecting the water supply pipeline system in the area. The reason is that the investment project has been implemented for many years, lacking synchronization..., there is a recommendation for the City People's Committee to direct the solution.

At the same time, it also raised difficulties in implementing water supply service contracts similar to those presented by Nghi An commune representative, requesting Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company to focus on resolving them.

Focus on final handling

Attending the meeting, Deputy General Director of Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Mr. Nguyen Van Ha, gave a number of reasons leading to the delay in signing contracts for supplying tap water services in the city, including Nghi An and Nghi Duc communes.

The main reason is that the water supply at the factories is not enough. If new customers are added, the water pressure will be weaker, leading to water shortages in many areas. To deal with this situation, the Deputy General Director said that the Company has developed an investment project to increase the capacity of the factories, but some procedures are facing some difficulties so they cannot be implemented yet.

Regarding the handling of procedural documents as presented by the representatives of Nghi An and Nghi Duc communes, according to Deputy General Director Nguyen Van Ha, in case households have not been granted a Land Use Right Certificate, the authorities can confirm so that the Company has a basis to process documents for households in need.

Regarding the delay in signing the Water Supply Service Agreement, Mr. Nguyen Van Ha stated that the reason was that the draft prepared by the parties was not yet consistent.

“Currently, the Company has more than 3,000 new customer records, while the Company's human resources and financial resources can only handle about 500 - 700 households/month. However, from this point on, the Company will focus on handling the Nghi An and Nghi Duc communes. Regarding the signing of the Water Supply Service Agreement, the Company has studied the draft prepared by the City People's Committee to develop a new draft and has sent it to the City's specialized Department for comments, moving towards signing the agreement. Also through this working session, the Company proposed that the City People's Committee give its opinions, so that relevant agencies can remove difficulties for the Company in developing a project to upgrade the factories..." - Deputy General Director of Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Mr. Nguyen Van Ha said.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tuan Tai - Head of Technical Infrastructure Department (Department of Construction), the establishment of a Water Supply Development Plan and the signing of a Water Supply Service Agreement are extremely important, as stipulated by law and directed and urged by the Provincial People's Committee, but the implementation is too slow. Therefore, the completion timeline must be clarified at this working session. Mr. Nguyen Tuan Tai also mentioned the voters' petition regarding Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company's refusal to provide clean water services, thereby requesting compliance with legal regulations and attention to handling.

“Although the Company has difficulties, it must comply with legal regulations. This weekend, the Steering Committee for Safe Water Supply and Prevention of Water Loss and Revenue Loss of the Province will also hold a working session on this content…” - Mr. Nguyen Tuan Tai commented. At the same time, he requested the Vinh City People's Committee to pay attention to studying and contributing comments to the draft Law on Water Supply and Drainage.

According to Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee - Mr. Le Sy Chien, through the working session, existing problems and difficulties were dissected, clarified and basically agreed on the direction of handling. Recognizing that ensuring clean water needs for the people is extremely important, Mr. Le Sy Chien affirmed: "Using clean water is a legitimate right of the people. Ensuring this right for the people is the responsibility of the government and the water supply company in the area".

Accordingly, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Le Sy Chien requested that within the next 6 months, relevant units must ensure the provision of clean water services to all households in the city in need.

Because there are still many households in Nghi An and Nghi Duc communes who have the habit of using underground water and other water sources, after installing tap water, they do not use it or use it very little, causing a waste of immediate investment resources and losing opportunities for households who need to use it but have not yet been installed.

Therefore, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Le Sy Chien requested the authorities of Nghi An and Nghi Duc communes to focus on propaganda work so that people know how to use clean water in a hygienic manner to ensure their health.

The Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee also requested Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company not to refuse households that need new installations in the area. "As the only water supply unit in the city, the company must be responsible for supplying water to people when they need it..." - Mr. Le Sy Chien emphasized.

Regarding the cleaning and disinfection of the water supply pipeline system as well as the acceptance of operation in Nghi Duc commune, according to Mr. Le Sy Chien, this is a technical process that must ensure technical standards, and must be confirmed by a competent unit; Nghi Duc Commune People's Committee is the investor and must be responsible for working with relevant parties. Determined to complete the cleaning, disinfection, pressure testing... within 1 month to hand over the operation to Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company, serving the needs of the people.

Recognizing that the city and Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company have been slow to sign the Water Supply Service Agreement, the Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee assigned the Urban Management Department to study the draft Water Supply Service Agreement drafted by Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company and sent it.

Mr. Le Sy Chien directed: “Within 5 days, the Urban Management Department must study, review, supplement and complete the draft, so that the leaders of the City People's Committee and Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company can sign the Water Supply Service Agreement…”.