Ben Tre city is a small town in the Mekong Delta with natural area of 71 km2 and a population of more than 36,000 households, 99.1% of which have toilets with septic tanks. Most households only use fecal sludge collection service when their septic tanks are clogged. Like other small towns in Vietnam, Ben Tre city does not have detailed statistics on the volume of generated fecal sludge, no plans for fecal sludge treatment, no treatment plants and no reuse of fecal. Up to now, Ben Tre city has 02 licensed units providing desludging service (1 public and 1 private), and some units and individuals do not have licenses (around 13 private units do not have licenses based on a survey of EMWF).
From 2017 to 2020, with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation financing, East Meets West Foundation (EMWF) implemented CHOBA2 project and piloted Fecal Sludge Management (FSM) project in Ben Tre city, Viet Nam. We have supported Ben Tre city in building the first Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant in Phu Hung ward (near the closed landfill) with total construction of nearly USD 255,000, in which the Ben Tre Province People’s Committee (PPC) contributed over 50%. The PPC also provided land for construction.
In 2018, with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade financing, EMWF implemented the Women-Led Output Base Aids (WOBA) project and piloted FSM – phase 2 in Ben Tre city, Viet Nam. The FSM – phase 2 has been carried out from 2020.
PROJECT PURPOSE
- Build demand and raise awareness about the importance of safe pit emptying in the service area, develop a market coordination mechanism.
- Enforce both private and public desludging truck enterprises to dispose sludge in the treatment plant
- Build capacity for treatment plant operators
- Strengthen the regulatory environment, and local government capacity for city-wide management.
PROJECT DURATION
- May 2020 – September 2022
IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH
- Output-based Aids
