Welcoming a trillion-dollar project, Cat Ba builds the dream of a green pearl island

ANTD.VN - Through large-scale projects of large investors, Cat Ba tourism hopes to gradually remove bottlenecks, helping the "pearl island of the Gulf of Tonkin" take off.

Removing infrastructure and environmental bottlenecks

Cat Ba Island has great tourism potential, but has been “stagnant” for many years. Experts say that infrastructure and environmental bottlenecks need to be prioritized. Cat Ba residents are also more interested and have high expectations for projects that help upgrade the island’s infrastructure.

Cat Ba's infrastructure and environmental bottlenecks will soon be resolved thanks to dedicated investors. Illustration photo: ShutterStock

According to expert Du Van Toan, Institute of Environmental Science, Sea and Islands (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), the problem of air pollution, waste, and wastewater is mainly concentrated in the center of Cat Ba Island, causing changes in water color and unpleasant odors in areas with tourism businesses... affecting the experience of visitors.

“If the central area of ​​Cat Ba is developed into a large-scale tourist and commercial service area with investment in wastewater and waste treatment systems, along with green energy standards, the pollution situation over the past many years will certainly be overcome,” expert Du Van Toan assessed.

The above project has a scale of more than 45.7 hectares, with a total investment of up to 12,495 billion VND, started construction in August this year, and has now begun implementing the first items. According to the investor, the highlight of the project is the central square, the public artificial beach designed according to international standards, along with walking streets and a vibrant service chain...

It is known that the Cat Ba Central Bay Tourism and Commercial Service Area project will dedicate more than 60% of its area to developing public facilities with the goal of turning Cat Ba into the first carbon-free tourist island in our country. In the future, all residents on the island as well as tourists will completely use environmentally friendly means of transport such as cable cars, electric cars and bicycles... The project will also pay special attention to wastewater and waste treatment.

The beach at the Cat Ba Central Bay Tourism and Commercial Service Area project will be a public entertainment space for residents and tourists coming to Cat Ba Island.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen - Executive Director of Hadeco Company, specializing in intermodal transportation from Hai Phong to Cat Ba, Cat Ba is a beautiful island with green nature, very worth visiting. However, there are currently black spots regarding the environment.

“There is a reality, the central area outside the port, when the water is low, the smell of sewers is very bad. I hope that in the future Cat Ba will be greener, cleaner and more beautiful and that a large corporation will come to invest in thoroughly handling the wastewater treatment process, creating a cleaner and more spacious Cat Ba,” said Ms. Thanh Huyen.

Meanwhile, Ms. Pham Thi Huong, owner of a hotel on 1/4 Street with more than 15 years of business experience in Cat Ba, expressed her excitement when witnessing the implementation of the Central Bay tourist area project.

“I see that this is a big project, but I hope that it can handle waste and wastewater. On hot days and when there are many tourists, the pollution is worse. After the big project is completed, the wastewater problem will be handled, so that it is clean and does not cause pollution that affects our hotel,” the owner of a hotel on 1/4 Street, Cat Ba Town hopes.

Becoming a green ecological island will be the "key" to help Cat Ba tourism "take off"

A greener, more worthy Cat Ba is not only the aspiration of the islanders. Cat Ba is considered the “Pearl Island” in the Gulf of Tonkin and is one of the largest biosphere reserves in the world. These “priceless resources” open up the opportunity to develop into a model ecological island in the region. However, to reach this goal, the problem of balancing the economy and the environment must always be taken into account.

According to Mr. Michael van de Watering - a leading expert of the Royal HaskoningDHV Global Consulting Group on climate change adaptation, sea encroachment, maritime and water treatment technology, the Cat Ba Central Bay Tourism and Commercial Service Area is a "future" project. This is a model developed by many countries.

“We also like the commitment to a nature-based project development approach and green ideas such as the green transport development idea with a cable car system that the investor has been implementing,” said Mr. Michael van de Watering.

After the first cable car route Cat Hai - Phu Long was completed, Sun Group Corporation continued to build a new cable car route Phu Long - Cat Ba, creating a cable car system connecting directly from Cat Hai island to the center of Cat Ba town. People and tourists will easily travel from Hai Phong city to the center of Cat Ba island by cable car quickly, conveniently and minimizing emissions to the environment. The cable car route will also be a new tourism product that brings the experience of admiring the rich ecosystem of forests and seas of Cat Ba island from above.

Realizing green planning and dreams

The Hai Phong City Planning 2021-2030, vision 2050, identifies the goal of developing Cat Hai district into a key maritime economic center of the city, a smart island district, in which Cat Ba island is a national and international eco-tourism center; Cat Hai island is a seaport service center, logistics service center, modern technology industrial park. Diversify and synchronize transportation methods connecting the island with the mainland, speed up the investment progress of building wharves and infrastructure works of Hai Phong International Gateway Port.

To realize this goal, Cat Ba has attracted many large, reputable, and well-known investors, typically Sun Group Corporation...

Cat Ba central area is about to get a "new look"

According to Prof. Dr. Do Cong Thung, former Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Marine Resources and Environment, Cat Ba is an extremely important “link” to develop eco-tourism and green tourism. With all the available advantages in terms of nature, biodiversity and landscape, Cat Ba has the potential to become an ecological “paradise”, a “Maldives” of Vietnam.

“The Resolution on tasks and solutions for Hai Phong tourism development in 2017-2020, with a vision to 2030” of Hai Phong determines that Cat Ba island will be built according to the model of an ecological, smart island, which will be a lever for Hai Phong tourism and economic development,” said Professor Do Cong Thung.

New project in Cat Ba Central Bay will bring well-planned green space

To achieve this great goal, there are many challenges that Cat Ba must deal with. However, those working in tourism on the island are seeing bright colors through the daily changes of the central bay area. In addition to solving environmental problems, the community expects the project to help Cat Ba diversify its tourism products, supplementary services, entertainment services, commercial centers, shopping areas, conferences... to attract visitors to the island.

Upgrading infrastructure, solving pollution problems or building new products, diversifying service experiences, etc. More than anyone else, the people and the tourism community of Cat Ba understand that only with the joint efforts of the local government and the investment enthusiasm of the "leading crane" enterprises can the above problem for the world natural heritage archipelago be solved soon.

Source: https://www.anninhthudo.vn/don-du-an-nghin-ty-cat-ba-xay-giac-mo-dao-ngoc-xanh-post599659.antd