Ministry to roll out 5.5b kip water scheme, benefitting police and public
Ministry to roll out 5.5b kip water scheme, benefitting police and public
Several villages that are home to thousands of families in Xaythany district, Vientiane, are hoping to benefit from a 5.5 billion kip piped water project being undertaken by the Ministry of Public Security.
The state-funded scheme will deliver water to a police office and 60 houses that accommodate police officers in Dongxiengdy village, Naxaithong district.
Police Brigadier General Mr Chansaveng Thipphounthong, who is responsible for the billion-kip project, told Vientiane Times on Thursday that the installation and connection of pipes would begin soon and be completed in a short period of time.
The ministry asked the government to provide funding for the project and financing was approved in 2015. The project owner then carried out a bidding process in compliance with investment regulations concerning transparency. Five companies made bids and the contract was awarded to one of them.
Every step of installation and construction will be carried out according to the standards of the Vientiane Water Supply Enterprise, which is the project surveyor.
An official with the enterprise said pipe connection will start from the crossroads at Km19, known as the Latkhouay crossroads in Phonsa-aath village, Xaythany district.
The connection will start at this point and extend to the police office over a distance of 5km, according to the survey.
The pipes will be installed parallel to an asphalt road that runs through several communities. This street links the No. 10 concrete road from Nonsaad village to the crossroads of the newly built concrete road in Tanmixay village.
Police Brigadier General Mr Chansaveng said It is a police project but it not only benefits the police force. Local people can share its advantages.
The villages that are expected to benefit from the project include Phonsa-aad, Danxang, Houayteuy, Nonsengchanh and Viengkeo in Xaythany district and Dongxiengdy village in Naxaithong district. Some of them do not ha ve the piped water system to access.
He said that at first they considered drilling an artesian well to deliver water because it would be cheaper. But a study found that the underground water was salty so they submitted a proposal to the ministry requesting financial support from the government to install the water supply system.
Hundreds of households in the area source their water from artesian wells, but have to put up with salty water. Most families use bottled water delivered by water treatment factories for cooking.
After the installation of the pipes, the system will be under the management of the Vientiane Water Supply Enterprise. It will then be the duty of the enterprise to carry out a survey for the connection of the network to households in each community, Mr Chansaveng said.
The enterprise official said there would be enough water for the project and it would come from the Dongmakkhai treatment plant.
Last year the government invested 712.8 billion kip (US$88 million) to increase the amount of water produced by the Dongmakkhai treatment plant from 20,000 cubic metres to 100,000 cubic metres a day in Xaythany district.
This was done to address the serious water shortages in Khamhoung, Chommany, Sivilay and Dongdok villages.
