With an aim to resolve infrastructure problems quickly and effectively for the sake of local residents, especially those travelling on streets, the Ho Chi Minh City authorities have launched the hotline 39.111.333 to receive information about infrastructure incidents.

Such incidents include trees falling, ground subsidence, broken electric or telecom cables, damaged drainage, broken water supply pipelines, out-of-order lighting systems, and traffic incidents, Le Quoc Cuong, deputy director of the city Department for Information and Telecommunications, told Tuoi Tre in a related interview.         The hotline has been in operation since April 2 with eight operators who work around the clock everyday, which means the line can receive up to eight calls at a time. If necessary, the line may have more staff in the future, Cuong said.

He also said that in future the line will have operators who have a good command of English to receive information from foreigners.

In the first day of operation, the line received 58 calls reporting incidents, of which 32 were for water supply systems, 15 for lighting systems, seven for  traffic incidents, three for drainage, and one for a fallen tree.

The hotline management transferred all the received information to concerned agencies and 30 of the infrastructure problems were resolved within the day. Yesterday the line received 53 more calls as of 3 pm.

The line, which is invested in, operated and managed by the city Electricity Corporation, will charge callers the normal rate for local phone calls and the charge will be collected by the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group (VNPT).

When asked why the hotline consists of as many as eight digits, instead of three, such as 113 for calling emergency police and 114 for reporting fires, Cuong said the city authorities have asked the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications for permission to set up a hot line with three digits but the ministry has yet to decide upon the issue. Therefore, the city authorities have decided to use the current line for the time being. Nonetheless, the eight current digits of the line  (39.111.333) are easy to remember, Cuong said.