France provides loan for Hoi An anti-erosion project
The French Development Agency will provide 42 million euros (US$45.7 million) between now and 2028 to fund works to prevent coastal erosion in Hoi An City.
The Ministry of Finance and the European Union (EU) on Friday signed an agreement for the Hoi An Erosion Prevention and Sustainable Coastal Protection project.
Of the 42 million euros, 35 million euros are a loan from the AFD, two million euros are in the form of non-refundable aid from the EU, and five million euros are Vietnam’s counterpart fund.
The work comprises building seven concrete embankments and pouring sand to create a beach along a five-kilometer stretch of coast along Cua Dai Beach.
The goal is to restore the coast to support tourism and associated services, creating jobs for locals.
When the work is completed, it will protect people’s lives and lands, houses and other properties, and tourism and resort infrastructure on an area of 3.2 km2. More than 1,300 families live there.
Oliver Brochet, France’s ambassador to Vietnam, said his government wishes to support Vietnam through the AFD in achieving its priority goals for coping with climate change.
He hoped the project would address the issues of flooding and erosion, enable economic development and improve living conditions for local people.
The Hoi An City coastline stretches 7.5 km and comprises several beaches such as Cua Dai, Thinh My and An Bang.
Cua Dai was consistently ranked among the most beautiful in Asia but has been steadily eroding since 2000, with some areas receding 100 meters inland.
In 2015 Quang Nam Province, home to Hoi An, built an 850-meter-long concrete-reinforced embankment, a 415-meter soft embankment using geotechnical bags, and a soft embankment made of geotube fabric extending over one kilometer at a cost of over VND140 billion (US$5.6 million).
But they failed to check the erosion.
In June 2020 the province built a 220-meter dike submerged half a meter in the sea and running parallel to the shore at a distance of 250 meters and cost of VND40 billion.
Measuring 4.5 meters tall, 12 meters wide at the base and 1.5 meters wide at the top, it was partially completed but there was no funding to continue.
Quang Nam then spent VND510 billion on a submerged dike running over two kilometers and dumped 600 cubic meters of sand into it.
Cua Dai has been gradually revitalized, but the one-kilometer stretch from the beach to An Bang to the north continues to erode.
By Gia Chinh – VnExpress.net – March 16, 2024