Building sustainability through water company and community linkages

The Three Delta Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Project is a joint venture between the governments of Vietnam and Australia to improve the welfare and living conditions for residents in the Mekong Delta towns of Bac Lieu, Ha Tien and Sa Dec. The project’s major focus is the development of urban environmental infrastructure, and also includes significant components of institutional strengthening and community development. A key implementation strategy for building the long term sustainability of the new infrastructure is to promote and strengthen linkages between the water and sanitation companies responsible for the infrastructure, and the communities they serve. Major challenges have been a lack of understanding by the companies as to the value of the community programs, and a significant lack of capacity at the town and community levels for initiating the various community programs. Now 2½ years into this 6 year project, the strategy is beginning to show results.