The Ho Chi Minh City is urging the state government to approve around $13.8 million needed for the maintenance dredging of the Soai Rap River.
According to the municipal government, the river is important for transportation of goods in and out of the city and neighboring localities. However, the river needs to be dredged as the annual buildup of soil in the river is estimated at around 2.5 million cubic meters.
In order to keep Soai Rap deep enough for big vessels to travel in the long term, the city is proposing to fund the dredging of the river on its own and retain all navigation fee revenues from vessels using the river.
The Soai Rap River, which is 54 kilometers long, is one of the key waterways for vessels to enter ports in HCMC. Dredging the passage to a depth of 9.5 meters for ships of 30,000-50,000 DWTs was finished in June last year at the dredging cost of over $120 million.
But the Southern Vietnam Maritime Safety Corporation reported last April that there had been some shallow parts spotted in the Soai Rap River.