Poor households and ethnic minority families in mountainous, island and border areas will have their water subsidies doubled from VND 500,000 to VND 1 million in the State budget.

The money is for upgrading water supplies and environmental hygiene, said the director of the National Programme for Clean Water and Rural Environmental Hygiene, Le Van Can.

Households using biogas will have their grants increased from VND 600,000 to 1 million.

Poor households in the delta and midland areas will receive grants of VND 800,000, an increase of VND 500,000.

Can said the State would spend money upgrading water-supply work in schools, health care centres, rural People’s Committees and border posts.

“However, households supported under the Prime Minister’s Programme for Socio-Economic Development for Poorest Communes, known as programme 135, will not benefit from this project,” said Can.

Reports show that 47 million people had benefited from the clean water and hygiene programme, since it was launched 1999. More than seven million households have received new toilets.

Nguyen Hong Quan, from the programme’s office said cities and provinces had proposed ways of protecting local water resources and jointly carrying out irrigation system projects,

Quan said the Government also wanted to build waste-treatment systems in 30% of handicraft villages, but there was insufficient capital at present.

The Government aims to provide clean water for 85% of rural residents by 2010 and to install modern toilets for 70% of them.

Total cost of the programme is about VND 22.6 trillion (US $1.2 billion ), of which 24% will come from State and provincial budgets, 15% from international organisations and 36% from local residents and the remainder from other sources. (VNA)