Five polluted lakes in the capital city have been cleaned and repaired by Hanoian investors heeding the call of government officials.

Phuong Liet 2 Lake, Vuc Lake, the moat surrounding the ancient citadel in Son Tay, Uncle Ho’s fish pond, and Va Lake have all been cleaned.

Many other lakes will be purified and repaired in April. Hanoi Vice-Chair Nguyen Van Khoi reported that the city has selected 23 lakes and Hanoi needs investment from local businesses. In turn, investors will enjoy incentives.

Hanoi’s Department of Construction revealed that dozens of investors have registered to repair the lakes, totaling over 100 billion dong in funds. The first 15 lakes will be repaired in 2010 to celebrate the city’s 1000^th anniversary.

Hanoi has 111 lakes and ponds, including 65 that are considered seriously polluted. In January the city called for firms to invest in lake-cleaning projects. So far, 296 billion dong has been pledged plus investments of 430 billion dong in lake upgrades in the form of build-transfer (BT) and build-operate-transfer (BOT) plans.

PV