EMW Clean Water and Sanitation Program Prepared By: Vo Thi Hien Reporting Period: July 1 – September 30, 2008 App. No.: N/A Grant Approval Date: N/A Quarterly Status Report Date: September 30, 2008 Project Name and Location: Grant Number: - GPOBA Clean Water Systems in Da Nang City and - Coke Quang Nam, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua - Blue Planet Run Thien–Hue, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen Provinces Estimated Completion Date: N/A Third Quarter 2008 I. Project Description The EMW Clean Water and Sanitation Program builds community water systems in rural areas of central Vietnam. The aim is to enhance the quality of life for Vietnamese people by increasing access to clean water and improving hygienic and sanitary conditions. Clean water piped directly into people’s homes improves the users’ health conditions, reduces child mortality and relieves the beneficiaries from the heavy burden of obtaining water from distant or poor-quality sources. From the start of the program in 1996 until the end of 2007, 102 clean water systems have been built to serve over 110,000 people. The projects are implemented in central provinces including Quang Nam, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien–Hue, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen as well as Da Nang City. Tra Dinh Hamlet residents used to dig near the river to get sand-filtrated water. To enhance the benefits of the water systems, EMW provides training for local water managers in operations and maintenance, financial management and community hygiene and sanitation. Partnerships are formed with local authorities and international agencies to share experiences about design, management, operations and financing in order to constantly improve the quality and efficiency of the program. Older water systems are periodically upgraded to ensure the use of the most cost-effective technology and to guarantee the quality of the water supplied. Local people in Tra Dinh Hamlet now have piped water at their homes! Almost all funding for the Clean Water and Sanitation Program is from private donations; however, in 2007, after evaluating several EMW water systems, the World Bank committed $3 million USD for a three-year project in 2008-2010. II. Key Activities 1. Construction of Clean Water Systems a. DO-06-Sao Phong Clean Water System (CWS): Completed and handed over to local partners on September 9, serving 254 households with 1,143 people in three hamlets b. DO-07-Tra Dinh Clean Water System: Hamlets 4, 5, 10 and 11 in Que Phu Commune, Que Son District, Quang Nam Province Construction started on November 29, 2007 nearly one year after the community meeting in January. This is a large system using river water to serve thousands of people. After the water supply system was completed, 591 households in four hamlets connected to the system within one month. The Tra Dinh Clean Water System was completed and handed over to the local beneficiaries on August 22, 2008. c. Coca-Cola–funded projects With a confirmed commitment of $65,000 USD from Coca-Cola Vietnam for systems in Da Nang, Ha Tay and Thu Duc (near Ho Chi Minh City), EMW worked in Lien Chieu District in Da Nang to finalize the project area and the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders in project implementation and management. The needs assessments and meetings with local authorities in Thu Duc and Ha Tay will occur in early October. d. Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc.–funded projects The Bong Mieu Clean Water System, worth $61,078 USD, was half-finished in this quarter with the completion of the water tower and well drilling. The filtration system and electricity switchboard are now being constructed and the distribution pipe system is being installed. The Bong Mieu system will be completed and handed over to the local people in November, serving 1,608 impoverished people in Tien Lanh Commune, Quang Nam Province. e. GPOBA projects in Quang Nam, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Hue The 19 projects were divided into five implementation groups based on their geographical location: Group 1 (G1) has five projects in Quang Nam; Group 2 (G2) has five other projects in Quang Nam; Group 3 (G3) has five projects in Quang Binh; Group 4 (G4) has two projects in Thua Thien– Hue and Group 5 (G5) has two projects in Quang Tri. During the third quarter, construction of the 10 water towers in Quang Nam (G1&2) was nearly completed except for the Tam Anh Nam and Binh Trieu systems which are about 80% complete. The distribution pipe systems in Binh Dao, Ngu Xa, Ly Truong and Phu Nham were fully completed. Dong Yen Phu Bong, Tam Anh Nam and Binh Trieu were 85% complete. However, the pipe systems in the sub-projects in Ha Nhuan, Tra Chau and Tam Hoa are not started yet. Regarding sub-projects in G3, G4 and G5, the first stage of implementation just started with water tower construction. The completion of each tower is as follows: in G3, Thach Hoa: 25%, Phong Hoa: 40%, Mai Hoa: 5%, and Tung Ly and Chau Hoa are not started. For G4, Phong Son: 5% and Quang Cong: 20% while in G5 both Cam Thuy and Hai Son are at 25%. The other items such as electricity, pipe distribution systems and filtration systems will be installed in December. The Phu Nham water tower was completed and put in use. 2. Independent Verification of Water Projects by World Bank and GPOBA As per the grant agreement signed on November 30, 2007 between EMW and the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA), reimbursement from the GPOBA is based on the number of households connecting to the systems. As selected by the World Bank, the Independent Verification Agent (IVA) is responsible for visiting beneficiaries and verifying the number of connected households as well as client satisfaction and reporting officially to GPOBA for reimbursement. During September 15-24, the IVA delegation and GPOBA team worked closely with EMW and visited four projects: Ngu Xa, Binh Dao, Ly Truong and Phu Nham projects in Thang Binh and Duy Xuyen Districts. Five percent of the total beneficiaries were audited. In the exit conference conducted on September 24, IVA gave very positive feedback to EMW. The official report will be sent to GPOBA before October 10 for reimbursement. 3. Administration Requirements from World Bank and GPOBA a. Environmental Approval As required by the World Bank through the Environmental Assessment Framework, each project should submit a Sub-project Environmental Assessment Report (SPEAR) and obtain environmental approval and a water access permit from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) before project implementation. Each SPEAR, including all project information such as socio-economic background, technical requirements, environmental mitigation plan, budget, public disclosure process and project impact, must be appraised by the respective District Department of Natural Resources and Environment and approved by the provincial DONRE. EMW obtained approval from Quang Nam, Thua Thien–Hue and Quang Binh Provinces in June and Quang Tri later in the summer. The World Bank also approved the first six SPEARs in four provinces for the first year, 2008, as required: Hung My, My Son, Nam Dinh (QNam), Cam Trang (QBinh), Phong Son (Hue) and Ha Loc–Luong Dien (QTri). b. Procurements • National Competitive Bidding (NCB) The second NCB process was completed and the Da Nang Plastic Joint Stock Company was chosen as the supplier for pipe and fittings materials for all 10 projects in bidding packages 1 and 2 in Quang Nam Province: Tam Hoa, Ngu Xa, Hung My, Tra Chau, Ly Truong, Phu Nham, Dong Yen–Phu Bong, Ha Nhuan, My Son and Hamlets 3 and 4 of Binh Dao. • Shopping of tower construction, well digging and filtration systems The three shoppings were conducted in July and August to select qualified contractors for the water tower construction of G3, G4 and G5. Phuoc Duc Construction Ltd. Company was chosen to construct five water towers in Quang Binh (G3); Thanh Duc Construction Ltd. Company was selected for the two water towers in Hue (G4), and Thanh Ha Construction Ltd. Company was chosen for the two water towers in Quang Tri (G5). The filtration systems for five projects in Package 2 were awarded to the Duc Tran Ltd. Company, which has worked with EMW for more than three years in different EMW project areas and is familiar with EMW practices (which facilitates implementation and management). As per the contract signed in June, Thach Anh Company Ltd. conducted well drilling and upgrading for 30 wells in 11 project communes located in four provinces. It is difficult to find wells with enough capacity to provide sufficient water for the systems, especially in Ly Truong, Quang Cong and Tung Ly Hamlets. 4. Public Disclosure, Consultation and Legal Preparation for Project Management Public disclosure on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) was conducted in this quarter. EMW sent official letters to 19 project communes and respective district Natural Resources and Environment Departments, requesting them to make public disclosure to all hamlet residents on Social Guard Policies through public radio and the notice boards posted at the water towers so that local people can access information on the policies for resettlement, minority people and the Environment Assessment as requested by the World Bank. 5. Capacity Building Water staff cooperated with the Quang Nam Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) to conduct training on guidelines for obtaining the water access permit for 10 Project Management Boards (PMB) and 4 district DONREs in Quang Nam on July 24. The process for obtaining the water access permit as well as the roles and responsibilities of the communes, districts, Quang Nam DONRE and EMW were finalized on the same day. Water staff conducted financial management and records maintenance training for 20 water managers and PMB members for the 10 projects in Quang Nam on September 11. 6. Hygienic Sanitation Component The Hygiene and Sanitation Behavioral Change (HSBC) Program has been implemented to maximize the community health benefits of the piped water systems. It increases awareness through social marketing, training and financial incentives to encourage families to build improved sanitary latrines. The program will also encourage people to adopt more effective hygiene behaviors that could significantly increase the community health impact of the water program by reducing the incidence of water-related diseases such as diarrhea, especially in children. After selecting the potential households in the previous quarter, technical training on building hygienic latrines and water sanitation (WATSAN) was conducted for the beneficiaries. MOUs were signed between EMW and the commune authorities of Tam Anh Nam and Que Phu to clarify project stakeholder A beneficiary in front of her new latrine. roles and responsibilities. During the third quarter, the team monitored the construction of 186 latrines in Tam Anh Nam and 60 latrines in Que Phu. These households were financially supported in building the sanitary latrines. 7. Other activities The water team successfully conducted site visits for Sam Sternin from the Gates Foundation on August 12 and Howard Handler and Le Ha Van from USAID on September 22. III. Activities for the Next Quarter • In the last quarter of 2008, priority will be given to the supervision of the 10 water systems in the Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien–Hue Provinces. Also, the water managers will need to create a specific schedule to work with local people in digging and backfilling the distribution pipe systems of 12 uncompleted projects in 2009. • The water team will conduct the survey and needs assessment for 28 potential projects in five provinces in order to write and submit these proposals to the World Bank before January 2009. • To motivate local residents and authorities, awareness campaigns will be launched to encourage them to actively participate in project implementation and management. • Procurement specialists and finance staff will speed up the process of National Competitive Bidding for the pipe supply of nine projects in Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien–Hue as well as the shopping for electricity installation and river water–intake construction to select qualified contractors and fulfill the requirements for the 19 projects before January 15 as scheduled.
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