Fishermen on Phu Quoc island in southern Kien Giang Province. A new waterworks, worth $12 million, will begin operating on the island in 2016. — Photo ivivu.com

KIEN GIANG (Biz Hub) ― Mekong Delta Province, along with MTV Water Supply Kien Giang Co Ltd, began construction on Sunday of a US$12 million waterworks on the tourist island of Phu Quoc.

The World Bank will finance some 74 per cent of the project, while the investing company will be responsible for the remainder, according to Dau tu (the Vietnam Investment Review).

Works will include a water treatment plant to process 16,500 cubic metres of water per day, a 50-kilometre pipe system, electric generators and reservoirs. The facilities are expected to begin operating in 2016.

Company director Nguyen Duc Hien said the new facilities would significantly help improve local water supplies, as the existing Phu Quoc waterworks can only supply 5,000 cubic metres per day – which was described as being "temporarily adequate" for about 110,000 local residents.

This would not be enough water in the near future, he said, due to Phu Quoc International Airport recently beginning operations, many investment projects being implemented, and the island becoming a special administrative and economic zone by 2020.

The Southern Power Corporation is also installing a 56 kilometre underwater electricity cable connecting the mainland to Phu Quoc, to help the island be less dependent on power from diesel generators and to modernise its growing tourism and seafood processing industries. ― VNS