PROJECT Development Facility
Request for PIPELINE ENTRY AND PDF Block B Approval
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Financing Plan (US$) | |
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GEF Allocation | |
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Project (estimated) |
5,000,000 |
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Project Co-financing |
60,000,000 |
| PDF A* |
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| PDF B** |
350,000 |
| PDF C |
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Total PDF Financing: |
350,000 |
Agency’s Project ID: PO82295
GEFSEC Project ID:
Country: Vietnam
Project Title: Vietnam Coastal Cities Environmental Sanitation Project.
Related Program: World Bank/Global Environment Facility Pollution Reduction Investment Program for Large Marine Ecosystems of East Asia.
GEF Agency: World Bank
Other Executing Agency(ies):
PDF B Duration: 18 months (including procurement of consultants)
GEF Focal Area: International Waters
GEF Operational Program: OP10: Contaminant-based Program
GEF Strategic Priorities: IW1 - catalyzing policy reforms and pollution reduction measures; and IW3 - demonstrating, testing, and replicating innovative ways to reduce land-based pollution.
Estimated Starting Date (PDF-B): July 2005
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This proposal has been prepared in accordance with GEF policies and procedures. | |
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Steve Gorman IA/ExA Coordinator |
Robin Broadfield GEF Regional Coordinator |
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Date: June 16, 2005 |
Tel: 202 473 4355 |
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Record OF ENDORSEMENT on behalf of the Government: |
| Name: |
Date: |
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Pham Khoi Nguyen, GEF Vietnam Chairman |
April 18, 2005 |
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Senior Vice Minister, MONRE, Vietnam |
Estimated WP Entry Date: December 2006
PART I - Project Concept
1. Strategic Framework
East Asia’s rapid economic growth has been accompanied by significant environmental degradation. Land-based pollution of the region’s seas, coasts, estuaries and rivers is one of its most severe environmental problems and is degrading the region’s large marine ecosystems. To help the littoral states address this problem, the GEF and World Bank, in collaboration with other partners such as the GEF/UNDP/IMO Partnership for Environmental Management of the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), have agreed to establish a Pollution Reduction Investment Program for the Large Marine Ecosystems of East Asia (the Program), 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 Program comprises an investment component that will co-finance World Bank pollution reduction investment projects and a revolving fund(s) component that will provide reimbursable financial incentives to private pollution reduction investors.
The Vietnam Coastal Cities Environmental Sanitation Project is the third World Bank project proposed for GEF co-financing from the Program’s investment component. The Bank Project is expected to be appraised in November 2005 and submitted for Board approval in May 2006.
2. Project Rationale
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 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 in the 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. Hence, it is an excellent candidate for support from the Program..
3. Objectives
The Bank project’s objectives are: (i) to reduce the discharge of pollution into the rivers and coastal waters of the project cities arising from urban solid and liquid wastes and thereby initiate improvements in the qualities of those rivers/coastal waters; and (ii) to improve the financial sustainability and capacity of the service delivery entities.
Key performance indicators will include quantified targets for: (i) improved urban services including the collection and treatment of domestic wastewater, and expanded safe disposal of domestic and commercial solid waste; (ii) improved financial sustainability of service providers through increased reliance on user fees for wastewater and solid waste services; and (iii) the development of capacity of service providers.
These measures would result in higher efficiency and economic growth potential in the project cities, as well as better public health, especially for poor residents.
4. Outputs
4.1 Bank Project Outputs:
i) Drainage and sewerage: Existing drainage and sewerage infrastructure in the cities is limited and generally “combined” (storm water and wastewater discharge to the same sewer or drain). Flooding occurs frequently in the wet season. The project will include expansion of the networks, provision of additional hydraulic capacity, and the diversion of wastewater at storm overflow chambers located close to discharge points. Diverted wastewater will be collected in interceptor sewers that will discharge via pumping stations to a wastewater treatment plant, or plants.
ii) Wastewater Treatment. Most households rely on septic tanks for disposal of liquid wastes. These are effective to varying degrees and discharge to the ground or to surface drains. There is no off-site wastewater treatment. In order to improve receiving water quality, a total of six wastewater treatment plants will be built, with oxidation ditches being the treatment process preferred by the project cities as a “tried and tested” solution.
This Project Concept is for one of the six plants to be a demonstration chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) plant, funded by GEF.
iii) Solid waste collection and disposal. For solid waste disposal, sanitary landfills incorporating leachate collection/treatment and gas collection (with either flaring, or possibly for power generation) will be adopted. Collection at the tertiary level will remain labor-intensive, but the feasibility of contracting out collection and transfer of waste to the private sector will be carefully evaluated.
iv) Strengthening of urban environmental companies (URENCOs). The project will conduct an assessment of ways to enhance the autonomy, accountability and incentives of these providers. This will be partly institutional and partly capacity building support to the companies, e.g. in financial and commercial management.
4.2 GEF Project Outputs:
i. The GEF would finance the design and construction of a demonstration CEPT plant which will serve approximately 54,000 people in 2010 rising to an estimated 135,000 in 2020.
ii. The key outputs from the GEF project will include a reduction in the discharge of BOD, suspended solids and nutrients into the receiving waters, and the improvement in understanding by key stakeholders (including line ministries and sector professionals) of the potential for application of the CEPT technology within Vietnam.
B - Country ownership
1. Country Eligibility
Vietnam is eligible for GEF assistance under the International Waters Focal Area through the World Bank.
2. Country Driven-ness
Vietnam’s “Orientation for the Development of Urban Sewerage and Drainage until 2020” aims to ensure that all urban areas would have suitable wastewater treatment facilities by 2020. In December 2003 the government issued a new environmental strategy that provides an intermediate target of 40% of urban wastewater to be treated by 2010. Thus, policy at the national level is clearly driving towards expanded wastewater treatment.
At the municipal level, the importance of tourism to economic development has increased attention to improving the environment, through better management of both solid and liquid wastes. All cities participating in the project understand the need to make progress on this issue and all have funded the preparation of project pre-feasibility studies using their own resources.
The three participating municipal governments are committed to plans to install new wastewater treatment facilities in the city. Specifically, they are in the process of developing the investment plan for the Bank project, under which investments will be made to ensure that secondary and tertiary drainage and sewer networks are constructed, and that barriers to households connecting to the network are minimized. This is crucial, as there are examples where lack of attention to this matter has resulted in treatment plants without an adequate sewer network feeding into them.
On April 18, 2005, the GEF National Focal Point in Vietnam formally endorsed the GEF project proposal.
C - Project and Policy Conformity
- Project Conformity
Conformity with OP10:
The proposed GEF funded activities under the Bank Project is consistent with the GEF’s Operational Program (OP) 10, the Contaminant-based International Waters OP, in that it will demonstrate and encourage replication of innovative and best practice options to overcome the barriers to reducing land-based contamination of an international water body, the South China Sea. Its innovative features include: (i) construction of non traditional waste water treatment plant which will demonstrate the applicability of the technology within the country; and (ii) promotion of a broader understanding of key issues related to appropriate waste water treatment, including upgrading paths that follow each city’s economic development, beneficial reuse of biosolids from the process, cost effective nutrient removal, tolerance to saline intrusion (especially important in coastal cities), in addition to low capital and operating costs, and small land requirements. This improved understanding will be fostered by a workshop and study tour.
Conformity with overall Program criteria:
The Program Brief, for the Pollution Reduction Investment Program for the Large Marine Ecosystems of East Asia, scheduled for submission to the GEF Council in November 2005, is still under formulation, but the general criteria for financing have already been defined. Pollution reduction components of World Bank projects that are most likely to receive GEF co-financing under the Program typically meet one or more of the following criteria: (i) demonstrate a new pollution control technology or technique; (ii) “try and test” a pilot where there is low public awareness, limited experience, and where the client is not be willing to take on that cost; (iii) are innovative institutional mechanisms or technical solutions to combat land-based water pollution; and (iv) are easily replicable and/or scalable. The Program would focus mainly on pollution hot-spots in the coastal areas of China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia.
The proposed GEF-funded activities under the Bank Project clearly meet the above criteria. It is believed that the CEPT technology, not currently used in Vietnam, is cost effective and technically viable under local conditions. Having the funds to carry out a pilot would demonstrate the applicability within the Vietnam context and encourage the replication of the technology for wastewater treatment in other cities in the country. The CEPT technology would not be adopted under the baseline project because it is a new technique that Vietnam is not familiar with, and the Government is not willing to shoulder the cost or risk of trying it. Hence, the incremental support from GEF will help Vietnam meet its wastewater treatment requirements through innovative new solutions and help bring to market a new technology.
Conformity with GEF Strategic Priorities:
The project is also consistent with GEF Strategic Priorities (SP) 1 and 3 for the International Waters Focal Area. With respect to Priority 1, it will facilitate the efforts of a nation that signed the Putrajaya Declaration of Regional Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Seas of East Asia to mobilize financial resources for implementing policy/institutional reforms and stress-reducing investments to address a priority trans-boundary water issue (land-based pollution of a shared water body) that is highlighted in the declaration. Furthermore, as called for by the SP, these resource mobilization efforts are mainstreamed into the regular program of a GEF agency, in this case the World Bank, under the framework of a strategic partnership among nations and the GEF agencies that support WSSD POI outcomes.
With respect to Priority 3, the project will demonstrate the feasibility of innovative institutional mechanisms and technical solutions to accelerate investment in facilities that reduce the contamination of an international water body. Its technical solutions include low-cost options that will help financially constrained communities access environmentally-responsible sewage treatment, while generating a mix of local and global benefits.
2. Project Design
Problem Statement
Unprecedented economic growth in East Asia has resulted in rapid urbanization, particularly in coastal regions. The urban population concentration in coastal regions has caused the seas of East Asia to largely bear the brunt of the environmental impact of this development. The result is that land-based pollution of East Asia’s seas, coasts, estuaries and rivers is a severe problem that is well-recognized by the countries in the region, including Vietnam.
The rapid economic growth in Vietnam is putting a strain on existing drainage and sewerage infrastructure in the cities. Sanitation infrastructure is in poor condition, and deteriorating, as a result of prolonged under-investment, rapid urbanization, expanded tourism, and increased wastewater loads. There is limited understanding of modern wastewater systems and technology. The URENCOs that are responsible for providing these services are semi-autonomous government owned public service enterprises that generally have weak institutional capacity.
At the same time, local governments are reluctant to increase wastewater and solid waste charges to the levels necessary to contribute to future investments. There is thus a need to develop wastewater facilities that have low capital and operating costs, and can be upgraded in response to economic and social development. Finally, as Vietnam starts to develop its wastewater facilities, there is a tendency to adopt technologies that have been tried and tested in developed countries. Newer technologies that may be more appropriate in the Vietnamese context are seen as more risky, and therefore not properly considered.
Baseline Scenario
Many of the trends identified above - increased growth, poor sanitation conditions, coastal degradation, lack of investment in cleaning up - are a reflection of Vietnam’s development stage. In the worst case scenario, i.e. no Bank project, these trends will continue and the situation will only be exacerbated. In the baseline scenario, i.e.Bank project but without GEF funding, the project will further develop/consolidate Vietnam’s urban environmental agenda technically (sewerage, waste water treatment and solid waste management), financially (cost recovering charges), and institutionally (efficient and effective service providers), i.e. the project will establish good sector practice in Vietnam. However, lack of local experience with innovative solutions and client concerns about the use of “untried” technologies, will limit the design of treatment facilities to conventional approaches adopted in developed countries that, due to their often relatively high complexity and cost, are not the most appropriate for Vietnam.
Alternative Scenario
Additional GEF funds of US$ 5 million would support a significant enhancement of the Bank Project’s waste water treatment component. With GEF funding, the coastal cities would have the opportunity to “try and test” a pilot 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 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 (%) |
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CEPT + Facultative Lagoon |
95 |
95 |
85 |
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Oxidation Ditch |
85 |
80 |
30 |
It is critical to test a range of processes in Vietnam as it embarks on the implementation of wastewater treatment facilities around the country. Failure to do so will lock the country into the application of developed country technologies where alternatives, such as CEPT, might be more appropriate.
- Sustainability (including financial sustainability)
The Government and the participating coastal cities are committed to enhancing wastewater treatment and reducing water borne pollution. The Government policy on this issue is clearly stated, and the cities have all established Project Management Units to prepare and implement the project. As noted earlier the cities have also funded the preparation of the pre-feasibility studies from their own funds.
Financial sustainability is a key challenge, especially in the early days of improved wastewater treatment. During this period households are not sure of the benefits arising from such investments, and yet are required to pay wastewater charges. The government and the Bank project team understand this challenge. The Government is promoting cost recovery in the sector, and the Bank team has placed significant emphasis on this point, seeking tariffs that cover O&M costs plus at least depreciation of short lived assets. In addition, the proposed Bank project is planning to include a component on public awareness related to sanitation and payment for services, for it is believed that improved consumer education will allow appropriate tariffs to be adopted.
At the current time, whilst no wastewater charges are made in the project cities, progress is being made in other cities that are more advanced in the development of their urban sanitation. The precise method of billing and collection has yet to be agreed with the URENCO. Normal practice is to have the water company bill and collect the wastewater charge (for a fee) and pass it on to the wastewater utility. In this case the Provincial Water Companies (which have very high collection rates (>90%) for their own bills) would take on this role.
In summary, the task team is very focused on the issue of financial sustainability, without which the technical and environmental sustainability of the plant will be at risk. The team sees that securing operating and maintenance costs from user fees is critical to the sustainability of the proposed CEPT plant, and is working to ensure that happens.
- Replicability
The proposed GEF-supported activities have significant potential for replicability in Vietnam and throughout East Asia. Chemically enhanced primary wastewater treatment offers low capital costs, robust treatment performance, low operating costs, and a number of associated benefits including enhanced nutrient removal, potential for beneficial reuse of biosolids, tolerance of influent salinity, and a staged upgrade path to reflect economic development in each city.
Currently there are estimated to be 20 million urban residents in Vietnam, and growth forecasts predict this number to double by the year 2020. Successful implementation of a CEPT based treatment plant in one Vietnamese city would provide opportunities for widespread implementation across the country as it starts to address a back log in wastewater treatment investments, and meet the demands of rapid urbanization.
Replication would be promoted through a range of routes, including: (i) the demonstration effect of the plant itself; (ii) improved understanding of the CEPT process by local engineers and process designers; (iii) through the professional association (VWSA); and (iv) through government, donors and borrowers who will be able to better assess the appropriateness and cost effectiveness of the solution.
The project will fund a workshop in Vietnam to share experiences from the CEPT technology. The workshop material will be both in English and Vietnamese, and representatives from PEMSEA will be invited to attend and help disseminate the experience and workshop documents. Furthermore the project’s representatives will participate in conferences sponsored by GEF or PEMSEA, such as the biannual GEF International Waters Congress and the PEMSEA East Asia Seas Congress. Links will also be made to the IWLEARN website/activities as those become clearer.
- Stakeholder Involvement/Intended Beneficiaries
There are multiple beneficiaries for the GEF activities including: i) citizens who will benefit from improved environmental conditions; ii) customers of the wastewater company that will find lower tariffs and more reliable service from a more appropriate technical solution; iii) local government that will have a treatment process that can be upgraded to reflect changes in economic conditions; and iv) the country, and its wastewater professionals, who will have a working example of an alternative approach which is more appropriate for the Vietnamese situation.
The initial review of the applicability of CEPT in Quy Nhon included a number of workshops with a range of stakeholders including the wastewater company, various line ministries, and the Provincial People’s Committee. This was complemented by two workshops in Hanoi to discuss wastewater treatment in general, and CEPT in particular.
During preparation, such consultations with all of the key stakeholder groups will continue. The results will be recorded and analyzed, and a stakeholder plan will be produced as a specific block-B activity.
D - Financing
Total Estimated Project Cost: US$170 million:
o Counterpart Funding (Borrower): US$30 million
o IDA: US$135 million
o GEF: US$5 million
The project costs, by investment component, are currently being prepared by consultants but the preliminary results indicate the following approximate allocations (in $ million). Those related to wastewater treatment have been highlighted by thick lines.
| Component |
Nha Trang |
Quy Nhon |
Dong Hoi |
Total |
|
Drainage/sewerage |
24 |
13 |
22 |
59 |
|
Wastewater treatment (IDA) |
19 |
8 |
3 |
30 |
|
Wastewater treatment (GEF) |
0 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
| Solid Waste |
10 |
7 |
1 |
18 |
|
Other investment |
8 |
10 |
4 |
22 |
|
Contingency/tax/other |
17 |
10 |
9 |
36 |
| Total |
78 |
53 |
39 |
170 |
From the table it can be seen that the IDA funding is supporting, primarily, the installation of drains and sewers. This will reduce flooding in City centers and take waste to the new treatment plants. IDA is then planning to fund five treatment plants, all of which are likely to be traditional oxidation ditch technology. GEF funding would support one additional plant (i.e. the CEPT plant) to be constructed in Quy Nhon. The GEF incremental funding will allow the piloting of CEPT in Vietnam, leveraging the funds of IDA both in terms of provision of wastewater treatment to the end of pipes funded by IDA, and in terms of the demonstration effect of the new technology.
Therefore, in summary, GEF’s $5 million is co-financing $30 million of wastewater treatment plus approximately 50% of $59 million of drainage/sewerage, making a total co-financing amount of approximately $60 million.
E - Institutional Coordination and Support
- Core Commitments and Linkages
The project is consistent with Vietnam’s waster and drainage strategy, which stresses service expansion, scaling up, and operational efficiency. Furthermore, it will directly respond to the Vietnam CAS theme of enhancing equitable, socially inclusive and sustainable development. It will give focus to poorer areas, thus narrowing the development gap and enhancing environmental sustainability. It will also help support the CAS theme of transition to a more market oriented economy by promoting private sector participation and developing self financing public utilities.
The three participating municipal governments are committed to improving the environment, including the installation of wastewater treatment facilities in the cities. They have demonstrated this commitment by funding the preparation of the pre-feasibility study for the World Bank project, by establishing a Project Management Unit for project preparation and implementation, and by beginning the process to set aside land for the sites of the wastewater plant.
- Consultation, Coordination and Collaboration between and among Implementing Agencies, Executing Agencies, and the GEF Secretariat, if appropriate.
The project is part of the World Bank/GEF Pollution Reduction Investment Program for Large Marine Ecosystems of East Asia, jointly developed in close collaboration with the GEF/UNDP/IMO PEMSEA initiative. PEMSEA’s main achievement has been the development of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of Asia (SDS-SEA), which was endorsed by the ministers of twelve East Asian countries in December 2003, and which lays out a road-map for improving and sustaining the seas of East Asia. It is on the basis of this strategy that the WB/GEF Investment Program was created. The Program, therefore, seeks to collaborate with the implementation action plans of PEMSEA, as well as other initiatives in the region such as the UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea and South China Sea initiatives.
During project preparation a survey of on-going related activities among other implementing agencies, executing agencies, and the GEF Secretariat will be undertaken and a plan for appropriate collaboration will be conceived.
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 Vietnam project will seek to take advantage of in term of spreading the lessons learnt and the replicability potential of the CEPT technology for pollution reduction throughout the LMEs of East Asia.
- Implementation/Execution Arrangements
The implementing agency for the project will be the World Bank, through the East Asia Urban Sector Unit (EASUR), which is responsible for the overall WB/GEF Pollution Reduction Investment Program for Large Marine Ecosystems of East Asia. The World Bank task team responsible for the Vietnam Coastal Cities Environmental Sanitation Project will also supervise the GEF project.
Responsibility for project preparation will be with the Quy Nhon Project Management Unit (PMU). The PMU is established by the local government and has representation from key city agencies or can access such agencies as needed. The Director or Vice Director of the URENCO is also the Director or Vice Director of the PMU. This will ensure coordination amongst the various city agencies involved in a project of this nature (e.g. finance, environment, construction, planning) and ensure ownership of the final output by the URENCOs. The PMU will, in parallel, be responsible for preparing the Bank funded project, which includes the pipe network feeding into the CEPT plant.
Once constructed and acceptance tests have been satisfactorily completed, the CEPT plant will be operated by the Quy Nhon urban environment company.
The local government plays a crucial role in project development as it: i) provides the counterpart funding; ii) owns the URENCO; and iii) sets the tariffs, and provides subsidies as needed, to maintain the financial sustainability of the URENCO.
The URENCO is a Public Service Enterprise, a semi autonomous entity owned by the local government. It is responsible for operating the wastewater plant, the pipe networks (both drains and sewers), and also the solid waste management facilities. Billing and collection of wastewater charges will be introduced as part of the project, and the precise methods to be used will be determined during project preparation.
PART II - Project Development Preparation
A - Description of Proposed PDF Activities
The activities during the PDF-B grant period are described below:
1. Activity 1: Preparation of Terms of Reference. An individual consultant will be selected to prepared detailed terms of reference for all subsequent consulting activities associated with the project.
2. Activity 2: Preparation of Feasibility Study for CEPT plant: An international firm will be selected to undertake a detailed feasibility study (FS) of the CEPT plant. The FS will be consistent with Government of Vietnam requirements and will be in sufficient detail to allow appraisal of the project by the GEF/World Bank team. The preparation of the FS will include preparation of Environmental Management Plans and Resettlement Action Plans all as required for Bank appraisal.
The FS will be prepared in draft for review with the municipal authorities in Quy Nhon before being finalized. Formal approval from the People’s Committee at the Province and City level will be provided before the preparation of detailed engineering designs and bid documents is started.
3. Activity 3: Preparation of Detailed Engineering Designs and Bidding Documents: After approval of the FS by the People’s Committees the consultant will proceed to the preparation of detailed engineering designs and bidding documents. The bid documents will follow standard Bank procedures and will be cleared by the World Bank team prior to issue to potential contractors.
4. Activity 4: Procurement Support and Auditing: Individual consultants will be selected to assist the PMU in procurement of contractors for the CEPT treatment plant and auditing the grant activities.
5. Activity 5: Study Tour and Workshop: Key operational staff and representatives of the City and sector professionals in the country will travel to Latin America to visit operational CEPT treatment plant. A workshop will be held after the study tour for a wider audience in the country to a) introduce the CEPT process, alongside other treatment technologies b) report back on the study tour and c) provide a platform for sector professionals to discuss the CEPT technology.
6. Activity 6: Assess Replication Potential: A replication strategy will be prepared during Block B to be implemented in the project. A general assessment of the potential for CEPT in Vietnam along the coastal areas will be conducted. The scope of CEPT, and potential impacts on reducing land based sources of marine pollution and protecting important conservation areas will also be considered. These assessments will assist in the design of specific replication and dissemination activities under the project, including workshops, presentations, and technical publications. Furthermore specific funding will be allocated for the project’s representatives to participate in GEF’s IWLEARN website and activities, and in conferences such as the biannual GEF International Waters Congress and the PEMSEA East Asia Seas Congress. Finally, the strategy will include specific provisions for coordination with PEMSEA’s Regional Partnership activities, whereby PEMSEA will help disseminate the knowledge from the CEPT experience and the documents from the described dissemination activities.
7. Activity 7: Prepare M&E Plan: In addition to the overall Bank project monitoring and evaluation program, a specific monitoring and evaluation program for the GEF component’s objectives, outputs, and inputs will be developed during the preparation phase. This will include a strategy to confirm pollution reduction loading estimates achieved through the project. The results will be used for improving operational performance, as well as providing scientific information on the CEPT technology, which will be disseminated for the use of other interested parties.
8. Activity 8: Prepare Stakeholder Plan: Stakeholder participation will be important during both the preparation and implement stages. A consultant will therefore prepare a “stakeholder assessment and consultation plan” at the start of the assignment to support project preparation, which will be followed by the preparation of a comprehensive consultation plan to guide project implementation.
9. Activity 9: Prepare GEF Project Documents: A consultant experienced in GEF project preparation would be contracted to assist the client in the preparation of the necessary documents for GEF and World Bank appraisal and approval.
B - PDF Block B Outputs
1. Terms of reference for consultants required to prepare FS, detailed engineering designs, bidding documents, procurement support and grant auditing.
2. Draft and Final Feasibility Studies for the Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment wastewater plant for Quy Nhon city, including M&E plan and all material necessary for World Bank and GEF appraisal.
3. Draft and Final detailed engineering designs and bid documents for the Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment wastewater plant for Quy Nhon city.
4. Workshop and study tour visit reports.
5. Replication Strategy
6. Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
7. Stakeholder Plan
8. Documents for GEF / WB approval
C - Institutional Arrangements
The Quy Nhon PMU will execute the project activities, on behalf of the City of Quy Nhon. The PMU already has responsibility for preparation of the World Bank funded project, and is therefore well placed to undertake this additional GEF responsibility, whose requirements generally follow those of the Bank.
The World Bank team responsible for preparation of the Coastal Cities project will review and provide no objections to the outputs provided by the various consultants selected by the PMU.
D - TIMELINE & Budget
See Annex 1. The PDF-funded activities are expected to begin immediately after GEF approval of the proposal in July 2005 and will be completed by December 2006. Consultant selection typically takes 6-9 months in Vietnam; this explains the extended timetable presented above. The World Bank team will work with the PMU to speed up the process as much as possible.
The intention is to submit the Vietnam investment component to the GEF Council in parallel with the preparation activities identified above, and based on the findings of the approved Feasibility Study. This is likely to be in summer 2006. The budget estimate for the PDF-B activities is presented in Annex 1.