PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID)
CONCEPT STAGE
Report No.:AB2992
Project Name
Vietnam GEF Coastal Cities Project
Region
East Asia and Pacific
Public Disclosure Authorized
Sector
General water and sanitation sector (100%)
Project ID
P090336
GEF Focal Area
International Waters
Borrower(s)
Government of Vietnam
Implementing Agency
World Bank
Environment Category
[ X] A [ ] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined)
Date PID Prepared
March 2007
Estimated Date of
October 2007
Appraisal Authorization
Estimated Date of Board
March 2008
Approval
Public Disclosure Authorized
1. Key development issues and rationale for Bank involvement
Background
East Asia's rapid economic growth has been accompanied by significant environmental
degradation. Land-based pollution of the region's coasts, estuaries and rivers is one of its most
severe environmental problems and is degrading the region's large marine ecosystems (LMEs).
To help littoral states address this problem, and in the context of the broader Strategic
Partnership for Sustainable Development of the LMEs of the Seas of East Asia being
implemented by UNDP/GEF, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the World Bank have
agreed to establish a Partnership Investment Fund for Pollution Reduction in the Large Marine
Public Disclosure Authorized
Ecosystems of East Asia (the Fund), the objective of which is to scale up investment in land-
based water pollution reduction in the region's coastal areas and major river basins. The Fund
would finance activities related to World Bank pollution reduction investment projects that are
innovative and can be replicated in other areas.
The Vietnam Coastal Cities Environmental Sanitation Project is the third World Bank project
proposed for GEF co-financing from the Fund. The baseline IDA Coastal Cities Environmental
Sanitation Project (CCESP) will be carried out in three cities along the coast of central Vietnam
(Nha Trang, Quy Nhon and Dong Hoi) and was approved by the World Bank Board in
December 2006. It has six components: i) Flood control, drainage and wastewater collection; (ii)
Wastewater treatment plant; iii) Solid waste management; (iv) Resettlement; (v) Household
revolving fund and school sanitation program; and (vi) Capacity building and project
implementation. The proposed GEF Coastal Cities Project (hereafter called "the GEF project") is
Public Disclosure Authorized
an environmental enhancement to the Quy Nhon wastewater treatment plant component of
CCESP. The GEF project is being considered a partially blended project and part of the of the
greater CCESP project. The GEF project is designed to deal with issues of pollution reduction
and demonstrate low-cost wastewater treatment methods. The GEF approved the project
pipeline proposal in May 2005, and the project is included in the FY08 GEF work program.
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Key Development Issues
Investments in wastewater treatment and pollution control in urban centers in Vietnam, including
coastal cities such as Nha Trang (population 270,000), Quy Nonh (Pop 230,000) and Dong Hoi
(Pop 95,000) which will be assisted by the IDA project, have lagged far behind its rapid
economic development, which is currently estimated at 7% p.a. To maintain this higher than
average growth, much of which is related to tourism, good environmental conditions are
paramount. All the larger cities in the country are already undertaking sanitation investments,
although none are yet operational. The project cities represent the next tier of cities in Vietnam to
tackle environmental sanitation issues, and have been selected based on their size and their
specific needs tourism features as a major economic activity in all three cities.
Progressive local governments in Vietnam, including those of the GEF project, have declared
pollution reduction a priority and adopted a sub-regional approach to tackling it. The project
would support and expand that approach and have high replication potential not only for other
coastal cities in Vietnam, but for all cities that discharge to rivers and thence into the seas off the
country's coast.
Rationale for Bank Involvement
The Bank is already making a significant contribution to Quy Nhon sustainable development by
financing the wastewater infrastructure investments under the baseline IDA CCESP. The
proposed GEF project further enhances these investments by supporting Quy Nhon's efforts to
protect its river and coastal resources and adopt low-cost and effective wastewater treatment
methods. The Bank, through the Fund can assist Quy Nhon design and implement an innovative
project that would serve as a demonstration model for other coastal cities in Vietnam, and in the
greater East Asia region.
2. Proposed
objective(s)
The Project objectives are to reduce land-based pollution along the Quy Nhon coast and the
South China Sea, promote the replication of innovative low cost wastewater treatment
techniques, and encourage coastal zone conservation.
3. Preliminary
description
GEF Component - Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment (US$5 million): GEF funds would
support a significant enhancement of the baseline IDA CCESP waste water treatment
component. With GEF funding, the coastal cities would have the opportunity to "try and test" a
chemically enhanced primary waste water treatment plant, with facultative ponds. This
technology has been successfully applied in Latin America, for example in Mexico City and Rio
de Janeiro, as well as in Hong Kong, and it is believed that it would be successful under local
conditions in Vietnam.
According to preliminary studies commissioned by the World Bank for the project, a chemically
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enhanced treatment plant (CEPT) is the least cost solution in capital costs and second lowest in
operating costs (behind facultative ponds). Clients, however are opposed to it, because there is a
perception that CEPT is more complicated compared to oxidation ditches, and because it is
viewed as a new, and untried, technology. From the study, it is clear that CEPT has a number of
advantages in Vietnam: small footprint, low costs, relatively simplicity, and a high sludge
production that could be used beneficially. Moreover pre-feasibility studies that the Bank is
conducting in Vietnam as preparation for this project have shown that CEPT treated effluent is of
a better quality that the effluent treated by conventional methods. In other words, for the same
cost, or less, CEPT would deliver a higher quality of effluent, with the differences to
conventional oxidation ditch treatment as follows. The higher levels of nutrient removal are of
particular interest as they mitigate the potential for harmful algal blooms and help in preventing
eutrophication.
Option BOD
Removal
SS Removal
Nutrient
(%)
(%)
Removal (%)
CEPT + Facultative Lagoon
95
95
85
Oxidation Ditch
85
80
30
Project implementation
The same project management arrangements for the baseline IDA CCESP, which is currently
under Bank implementation, would also apply to the GEF Coastal Cities Environmental
Sanitation Project. The CCESP Project Management Office (PMO) would be responsible for
overall coordination of the project, and the new combined Quy Nhon Municipal Water Supply
and Sanitation Company will be responsible for the operation of the wastewater component.
Project sustainability
Sustainability of the baseline IDA project is the principal guarantor of sustainability of the GEF
project.
Borrower's Commitment. At the national level the Government has demonstrated commitment
to sector sustainability with its policy of cost recovering tariffs. Participating cities have
demonstrated strong commitment by financing their own Pre-Feasibility Studies, and
establishing PPU with experienced staff.
The borrowers understand that extensive capacity building of the service providers, the PMU,
and the communities is essential for long term sustainability. The borrower has committed,
through component 6 of baseline IDA CCESP, to achieve this.
On the critical area of tariff reform each city has agreed to phased increases so that operating
costs and depreciation of short lived assets is fully funded from user fees by the end of the
project. This is included as an IDA CCESP covenant.
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Beneficiary' support. Improved drainage, wastewater and solid waste management services will
improve the urban environment in each city and the quality of life of residents. This has been
confirmed by household surveys. However the provision of such services is relatively new in
Vietnam and further support will be built through public awareness campaigns during project
implementation.
Lessons learned from past operations in the country/sector
The design of the project reflects the lessons learned from the World Bank's large portfolio of
water pollution reduction projects. The project is part of the Strategic Partnership Investment
Fund, developed in close collaboration with a project of the UNDP/IMO, the Partnerships in
Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA). PEMSEA developed a
Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA), which was adopted in
December 2003 by twelve countries through the signing of the Putrajaya Declaration. The SDS-
SEA lays out a road-map for improving and sustaining the seas of East Asia. Lessons learned in
the region have helped to formulate the SDS-SEA, which the GEF Coastal Cities Environmental
Sanitation Project is part of.
PEMSEA's Secretariat has been briefed on Vietnam and will help to disseminate information
about this project. PEMSEA's regional project - Implementation of the Sustainable Development
Strategy for the Seas of East Asia - provides an extremely useful coordination function that the
Quy Nhon project would seek to take advantage of in terms of spreading the lessons learnt and
the replicability potential of the chemically enhanced primary treatment technology for pollution
reduction throughout the large marine ecosystems of East Asia.
Project benefits
CEPT is a simple and cost effective first component in a multi stage wastewater treatment
system or as an upgrade for existing conventional primary treatment facilities. The removal of
pollutants by coagulation and precipitation, in addition to achieving a marked increase in the
efficiency of the primary treatment stage, reduces the residence time needed and thereby
increases treatment plant flow capacity. Because of decreased organic loading, the size of any
subsequent secondary biological unit is reduced in terms of space and cost.
CEPT is ideal for a coastal city since the removal of SS is very high and the decrease in BOD is
sufficient so as to not impact oxygen concentrations in the ocean. CEPT is also appropriate for
phosphorus removal. Indeed, while biological secondary treatment removes SS and BOD at a
very high efficiency, it does not effectively remove phosphorus and produces nitrates. If this
effluent does not undergo nutrient removal before it is released into a body of water,
eutrophication may occur. The algal blooms often accompanying this kind of nutrient loading
deprive the water body of oxygen, which is equivalent releasing a high BOD effluent into that
body of water. CEPT effectively removes a high amount of phosphorus, which is usually the
limiting nutrient in fresh water ecosystems.
One of the principal benefits of the project is also in demonstrating and replicating the proposed
project in the entire East Asia region. The project would disseminate the experience of the
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chemically enhanced primary treatment and help educate the public about the importance of
protecting the seas and coastal ecosystems. PEMSEA would be instrumental in disseminating
this information.
Project risks
Potential risks to the GEF project, and proposed mitigation measures, are described in the table
below:
Potential Risks
Proposed Mitigation Measures
CEPT fails to achieve
(1) Technical assistance during concept development,
specified treatment targets
design, construction, and operations period.
Inadequate operation of the
(2) Training of operators included in the TA component
new facilities
Customers unwilling to pay
(3) Public awareness campaign
for services
(4) Collection of waste-water fees through the water bill
4. Safeguard policies that might apply
The following safeguards policies might apply.
Safeguard Policy
Applicable?
If Applicable, How Might It Apply?
[X]
Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01)
The GEF Coastal Cities Environmental Sanitation Project is primarily an
enhancement to the baseline IDA Coastal Cities Environmental Sanitation
Project (CCESP) and minimal or no negative impacts are expected.
Wastewater treatment is new for these cities, but:
(i) appropriate waste-water treatment technology has been chosen to meet the
national environmental standards at acceptable costs, and
(ii) sludge will be disposed to sanitary landfills after lime stabilization or
anaerobic digestion, followed by drying
(iii) environmental assessment for the effluents from the wastewater treatment
plants will be addressed when the detailed design for this investment is
completed.
[X]
Cultural Resources (OP 4.11)
Cultural property exists in the project city but none have been identified on the site
of the proposed CEPT.
[X]
Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12)
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Investments will be made to provide serviced housing plots for resettlement of
project affected people in Quy Nhon. This will comprise the provision of graded
sites, accessed by surfaced roads, with drainage, power, telecommunications, and
water supply. The total areas of the sites will be approximately 5 Ha in each city.
Environmental Assessment Category:
[X] A [] B [] C [] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined)
Safeguard Preparation Plan
The GEF project safeguards requirements will follow the Environment Guidelines and
Resettlement Policy Framework prepared for the IDA CCESP Project. These have been cleared
by the Bank's safeguards team and adopted by the Provincial People's Committee in Quy Nhon
(Binh Dinh Province).
Project financing
Source: ($m.)
BORROWER/RECIPIENT 0.5
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY
5.0
Total
5.5
5. Contact
point
1. Mr. William Kingdom, Lead Water and Sanitation Specialist
World Bank, Washington D.C.
Tel: (202) 473-9093
Email: wkingdom@worldbank.org
2. Mr. Claudio Purificato, Water and Sanitation Specialist
World Bank, Washington D.C.
Tel: (202) 473-9093
Fax: (202) 614-1103
Email: cpurificato@worldbank.org
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