(Under the Prime Minister’s Decision No.237/1998/QD-TTg)

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No.237/1998/QD-TTg of December 3, 1998 ratifying the national target program for rural clean water and environmental hygiene; Decision No.531/TTg of August 8, 1996 on the management of national programs; and Decision No.05/1998/QD-TTg of January 14, 1998 on the management of national target programs;

With a view to well executing the national target program for rural clean water and environmental hygiene (RCWEH), the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development hereby jointly guide a number of points as follows:

I. THE PROGRAM’S OBJECTIVES:

1. By the year 2000: To raise the rate of clean water users to about 45%; and to improve the environmental hygiene, with priority being given to border areas, islands, areas inhabited by ethnic minority people and other rural areas meeting with difficulties.

2. By the year 2005: About 80% of the rural population to be supplied with clean water; 50% of households to have hygienic latrines; waste from 30% of the animal farms and stables and 10% of craft villages to be treated. Most schools, hospitals, medical stations, markets and other public works in rural areas to be supplied with clean water and surrounded by clean environment, and most of the rural people to properly keep their personal hygiene.

3. To contribute to the combat against the dry-up and pollution of water sources as well as to the protection of the quality thereof.

II. GENERAL PRINCIPLES:

- The State creates a legal environment governing the planning, technology, model, propaganda and training so that people to do such things mainly by themselves. The State shall support the investment in border areas, islands, areas inhabited by ethnic minority people and rural areas meeting with difficulties, and work out appropriate mechanisms and policies to encourage the private sector and enterprises to invest in construction of rural clean water supply and sanitation projects in various forms in order to socialize the rural clean water supply and environmental hygiene.

- The People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall manage and mobilize various resources, including revenues from agricultural land use tax which are left to their localities, resources from international organizations, from integrated socio-economic development programs, and resources mobilized from organizations, individuals and various population strata in their respective localities, in order to achieve the program’s objectives; and incorporate the rural clean water supply and environmental hygiene objectives and solutions into the general objectives set in the annual socio-economic development plans of their localities.

- The investment and construction of projects must be carried out in a transparent and democratic manner, with the beneficiaries’ discussion and participation in various processes, from the planning, designing and construction to management, operation and maintenance of such projects, ensuring the sustainable operation thereof.

III. THE PROGRAM’S SCOPE:

To ensure that the clean water supply and environmental hygiene improvement in rural areas are carried out according to the objectives already ratified by the Government, the program shall cover:

- Management of and investment in the construction of clean water supply projects in service of the rural population community;

- Management of and investment in the construction of projects in combination with the treatment of human and animal wastes, such as the construction of hygienic latrines and animal farms and stables, and treatment of wastes from rural craft villages;

- Contribution to the protection of water sources, the combat against dry-up and pollution thereof in the course of exploitation and use, ensuring the protection of environmental hygiene and scenes;

The program shall be executed in rural areas, including small district townships with a population of less than 30,000 each (according to the national strategy for rural water supply and hygiene).

IV. INVESTMENT CONTENTS:

1. Investment capital sources for the program and the use principles:

a/ Investment capital sources for the program include:

- Budgetary capital: from the central-level budget, local budgets, and from other target programs integrated with this program in the localities;

- International capital: aid from various international organizations to the program according to the already concluded agreements and from non-governmental organizations (NGOs);

- Credit capital: lent by the State with preferential interest rates, for investment in the construction of water supply and sanitation projects;

- Capital mobilized from the people: People’s contributions shall be mobilized at the level prescribed in Joint Circular No.103/1999/TTLT/BTC-NN & PTNT of August 21, 1999 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as the capital contributed to and invested in the program by organizations and individuals;

- Capital invested by the people by themselves.

b/ Use of the capital sources:

b.1. Budgetary capital (central-level and local budgets and international aids), which shall be used mainly for:

- Elaboration of the planning on rural clean water supply and environmental hygiene;

- Propaganda among and mobilization of the people to participate in the execution of the program;

- Training in order to raise the capacity of officials taking part in the national target program for rural clean water and environmental hygiene and people who wish to be trained;

- Technological research, application and/or transfer, supply of new materials and equipment for the rural clean water supply and environmental hygiene;

- Formulation of mechanisms and policies for the execution of the program;

- Support of funds for the building of pilot models;

- Supply of reciprocal capital matching international aids;

- Support of investment funds for the construction of daily-life water supply and environmental sanitation projects in border areas, islands, areas inhabited by ethnic minority people and other rural areas meeting with difficulties.

b.2. The people’s capital and credit loans: shall be used mainly for the construction of projects in various forms, below:

- Contribution of a part of fund to the investment in the construction of water supply and sanitation projects, with support capital from the State and international organizations;

- Investment in the construction of projects for commercial operation with charges for water supply and environmental sanitation services in rural areas;

- Investment in the building, operation and transfer of projects for daily-life water supply and environmental hygiene in rural areas in the BOT form;

- Other investment forms.

2. Investment projects: including centralized water supply projects and scattered water supply projects, environmental sanitation projects on the village, hamlet, commune or inter-commune scale, and other clean water and rural environment projects.

3. Project investors: Depending on the scale and characteristics of each project, the provincial People’s Committee, ministry or branch taking part in the program shall decide a commune or district People’s Committee or a specialized agency to act as the project investor.

4. Project elaboration, evaluation and approval:

The elaboration and approval of investment projects shall comply with the current regulations on investment and construction management;

Investment projects, after being approved, shall be submitted by the provincial program management boards (or the steering boards) to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (the Management Board of the National Target Program for Rural Clean Water and Environmental Hygiene) for being synthesized and serving as basis for the elaboration of annual investment plans;

V. INVESTMENT MECHANISM:

1. The investment and construction must be carried out according to projects, in which:

a/ For projects in communes meeting with great difficulties, they shall comply with Joint Circular No.416/1999/TTLT/BKH-UBDTMN-TC-XD of April 29, 1999 on management of investment in and construction of infrastructure projects in mountainous, remote and deep-lying communes meeting with great difficulties.

b/ For projects in other regions, the investment and construction shall comply with the current regulations on investment and capital construction management (the Government’s Decree No.52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 on investment and construction management).

2. The level(s) of the State’s investment capital in support of projects shall comply with Joint Circular No.103/1999/TTLT/BTC-NN and PTNT of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding the management, allocation and settlement of funds for the National Program on Rural Clean Water and Environmental Hygiene.

VI. PLANNING WORK

1. Elaboration and synthesization of plans:

a/ The investment shall be made on the basis of projects already approved by the competent authorities;

b/ Annually, under the guidance of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities (hereafter referred to as the provinces for short), the ministers and the heads of the branches taking part in the program shall have to evaluate the execution of the reporting year’s plan, and propose the plan year’s demand to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance.

c/ Basing itself on the program’s objectives, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall synthesize and propose the program’s objectives, tasks and investment capital demand in the plan year, including the State’s capital source (development investment capital, non-business capital, credit capital and international aids), capital contributed by the people and capital mobilized from organizations and individuals, to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance (together with the table for distribution of investment capital, and assignment of the program’s tasks and objectives to the participating provinces, ministries and branches).

2. Plan assignment:

a/ The Prime Minister shall allocate to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the People’s Committees of the participating provinces and branches the program’s total State capital in the plan year (budgetary capital, credit capital and international organizations’ aids).

b/ The Prime Minister shall authorize the Minister of Planning and Investment to assign annual plans to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the provincial People’s Committees and the ministries and branches taking part in the program in terms of objectives, tasks, investment capital structure and list of projects (with capital supported by the State budget), and at the same time notify the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the program’s general plans which shall serve as basis for direction.

c/ The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall not assign plans to its affiliate system in localities, but only provide professional instructions and solutions in terms of technique, technology, mechanism and policy for the program’s execution.

d/ The presidents of the provincial People’s Committees, the heads of the ministries and branches that participate in the program, shall assign each project’s detailed criteria to the execution units with the following contents:

- Project list, objectives and tasks of each project.

- Capital source for execution: The total investment capital and the investment capital structure for the program’s execution (the State budget capital, credit capital, international aids, capital mobilized from organizations and individuals, and capital contributed by the people).

VII. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

- Basing themselves on this Circular, the presidents of the provincial People’s Committees shall formulate mechanisms and policies suitable to the characteristics and circumstances of their respective localities, in order to fully mobilize all resources for the achievement of the program’s objectives.

- The branches and levels, within their respective functions, shall direct, inspect, supervise and urge the execution of the program in this Circular’s spirit.

- This Circular takes effect after its signing. Any irrationalities arising in the course of implementation shall be reported to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Planning and Investment for study and appropriate supplements.

For the Minister
of Planning and Investment
Vice Minister
NGUYEN XUAN THAO

For the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
Vice Minister
NGUYEN THIEN LUAN