VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoi authorities on January 20 called for 50 investors to commit to help clean up the city’s lakes.

Cleaning the West Lake.

Do Xuan Anh, Hanoi Department of Construction director, said that the capital city has 111 lakes, totaling 1165ha. However as many as 44 of those have serious problems.

Many lakes have become dumping grounds for local people, for instance Linh Quang, Re Quat, Tai Trau and Tu Lien. Others are being illegally used. Many lakes have become badly polluted and have caused problems for local residents. The Hanoi Water Drainage Company’s survey shows that many are seriously polluted.

Hanoi’s chairman Nguyen The Thao admitted that pollution at lakes and ponds has become a big problem. He called for enterprises to invest in lake repair projects as the city’s budget is insufficient for this job.

So far enterprises have pledged to provide Hanoi with 296 billion dong and invest 430 billion dong in lake upgrading projects. These are in the form of build-transfer (BT) and build-operate-transfer (BOT) schems.

PV