Roughly VND244 billion (US$11.5 million) will be spent on a wastewater treatment project to be undertaken in the next four years in UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town, located in central Vietnam.

The People’s Committee of Quang Nam Province, where the project will be carried out, on Thursday approved its implementation, with the capital coming from Japan’s non-refundable aid and the Vietnamese state budget.

The project will be implemented near Cau (Bridge) Pagoda in the town’s Cam Pho Ward from 2014 to 2018 to make sure the sewage discharged from households in the neighborhood meets standards before being poured into a canal nearby.

Under the project, a sewage treatment plant that can process 2,000m³ of wastewater per day will be built. The canal will also be dredged.

Also known as Japanese Bridge or Lai Vien Kieu, the bridge was constructed around the 17th century by Japanese merchants.

In 1653, the pagoda was erected on top of the bridge, giving birth to its name Bridge Pagoda. The pagoda has since become one of Hoi An Ancient Town’s cultural icons.

In 1999, Hoi An was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO for being a well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port from the 15th to 19th centuries, and for housing buildings with a unique blend of local and foreign influences.

Since then, Hoi An has been voted one of the top tourist destinations in the world by several tourism magazines.

It was chosen as the world’s best tourism place by UK tourism magazine Wanderlust in January 2013.

The town also ranked second on the Top 10 Asian Cities list by prestigious American tourism magazine Condé Nast Traveler in October 2013.

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