Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung has asked the management board of West Lake to explain the use of VND128 billion (USD6.1 million) for dredging West Lake.

On May 5 Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung attended a meeting of the municipal people’s council on the city’s socio-economic development.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung

According to the chairman, previous surveys by three local companies showed that Hanoi needed to dredge 1.2 million of cubic metres of mud to clean West Lake, which would cost VND180 billion.

Over the past four years, the management board of West Lake spent up to VND128 billion on the dredging project. However, Chung said that he had not seen any evidence of the dredged mud so far. The chairman requested the West Lake management board to explain how VND128 billion had been used for the mud dredge.

At the meeting, Chung received questions from participants about the plan to turn the West Lake into a future tourist site. The chairman said that to implement this, Hanoi needs to take many measures such as mud dredging, water cleaning and completing wastewater system and building a 180-200 metre high fountain.

Early October this year, over 200 tonnes of dead fish were recovered from West Lake. A preliminary report from the Hanoi People’s Committee indicated that oxygen depletion was partially responsible for the mass death fish in the West Lake.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged Hanoi authorities to investigate the case; however; a final report has not yet been made.