ID :
35834
Tue, 12/16/2008 - 14:45
Auther :

Survey finds HCM City quality of life low

HCM City (VNA) - Ho Chi Minh City ranks 150 th out of the world's 215 big cities in terms of quality of life, according to a survey by Mercer, a British consultancy.

Mercer's evaluation echoes growing concerns raised by deputies of the city's
People's Council at a meeting in early December. The councillors said that the
people's living quality has not matched the city's steady economic growth.

According to Mercer's survey, HCM City 's health care, education and
transport services are ranked as below average. The city scored "4 out of 10",
with 10 being the best, in both health care and education. Transport and public
transport services scored 3 out of 10.

Mercer attributed these low ratings to poor quality of service, obsolete
infrastructure and inaccessibility to health care and education by the poor.

Scoring higher marks in the survey are political stability (7/10);
telecommunications (8/10); and the supply of food and consumer goods (8/10).

Le Van Thanh, deputy head of the city's Development Research Institute's Urban
Development Research Office, said the survey results are based on the city's
ability to supply services and people's capacity to access those services.

Health care was rated low because of overloaded hospitals, where two or three
patients sometimes share a bed; outdated medical equipment; unskilled medical
staff; and a lack of adequate emergency aid services.

The city's clean water supply services were rated at the lowest mark with 0/10;
Singapore achieved 10/10; Kuala Lumpur , 8/10; and Bangkok 4/10. Mercer
blamed the low score on an insufficient supply of clean water for daily use and
the poor water quality in the city.

Mercer also blamed factors such as environmental pollution, traffic jams, and
flooding for the city's low quality of life.

It said the city needed to exert more effort in developing urban infrastructure to
tackle these challenges in order to catch up with other regional cities.

According to Mercer's rankings, the city lags far behind Southeast Asia 's other
big municipalities. Bangkok , for example was ranked 109/215 in terms of living
quality; Singapore 34/125; and Kuala Lumpur, 75/215.

HCM City , however, has been evaluated high for its good community
relations and residents' friendliness. According to Prof. Michael Douglass of
Hawaii University 's Global Research Centre, the image of people taking meals
together and talking in a friendly way is evidence of their warm feelings and
good living.

According to the Development Research Institute, the city needed to establish its
own criteria to evaluate and improve living quality, instead of using the criteria
set by international consulting companies.

HCM City is expected to complete its criteria in January 2009, becoming
the first city in the world to self-evaluate its citizens' quality of
life.-Enditem


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