| An Introduction of Cutting-Edge Approaches Taken by ANMC 21 Member Cities. |
(1) From Tokyo: Bringing Tokyo's Sewer Technology to Asia
Taking Part in the Ho Chi Minh City Water Management Improvement Project
Ho Chi Minh is the largest city in Viet Nam. In recent years the city's population has increased annually by 200,000, exceeding a total of over 7 million while becoming increasingly urban and industrial.
As a result, the pollution of rivers with unprocessed sewage from homes and factories, and floods stemming from the inability of drainage plants to remedy the situation, have both become major issues. Floods are especially numerous in the city during the rainy season (from May to October), negatively affecting the health and lives of the citizens.
In order to improve these conditions, an international loan from Japan has been put to use in equipping drainage systems for urban areas, improving existing drainage systems, and building facilities such as relay pumps and large-scale processing centers, with Tokyo lending its technology and support.
The Bureau of Sewerage, Tokyo Metropolitan Government is making an international contribution by lending its support to the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Ho Chi Minh City Water Management Improvement Project. Spanning from May of 2009 to November of 2010, this project uses on-the-job training to impart the knowledge necessary to carry out the building and repair of drainage systems to Ho Chi Minh personnel. Japan is deploying personnel to Ho Chi Minh while allowing Vietnamese members to train in Japan. Construction Subsection Chief Okamoto and Assistant Chief Suda from the Bureau of Sewerage participated in the current second stage of this project.
In this instance they dealt with a range of subjects such as inspection methods for processing plants and pumps, operation report methods, leadership, and group organization, among which we will be discussing the record-keeping for processing plants. In order to ensure the maintenance of administration and allow renewal projects for these facilities, it is essential that records be kept at hand of the year of construction, expected lifetime, usage, and other information. Using past examples of aid to developing countries and Japan's own experiences while taking into account current conditions in Ho Chi Minh, the project made proposals for records implementation and maintenance. While fielding a variety of questions, a consensus was formed as to which organizations would proceed at which schedule.
Although the implementation of technology requires time, with the diligent Vietnamese national spirit and cultural exchanges during free hours, the bond of trust built between Japan and Viet Nam created a sense of the project progressing more smoothly with each passing day. The last phase of personnel is scheduled to be sent from Japan from July to September. At the same time, engineers visiting Japan from Ho Chi Minh gain the experience of viewing Japanese sewer systems with their own eyes so that they can better plot the appropriate growth of the Ho Chi Minh sewers.
In order to improve the public waters of Ho chi Minh and reduce flood damage, we pledge to give our continued support through work in the area of sewer systems.
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