A group of young people in HCM City are making the city more colourful by painting on the manholes.

The youth union of HCM City Urban Drainage Company, the city Anti-Flood Control Centre and many young people have given 100 old manholes in the city's centre a new coat of paint. A chemical coating will be applied before and after the colours are put on to make the final products durable.

Ngo Tan Thuan, secretary of the youth union, said there were many street vendors and visitors on Alexandre de Rhodes, Le Loi and Pham Ngu Lao streets. They hope that the passers-by and the street vendors will refrain from littering the streets once they saw the paintings.

The VND100m (USD4,400) project is sponsored by Heineken Vietnam who helped to hold a contest to choose 10 best paintings for the project. Matt Wilson, Corporate Affairs director of Heineken Vietnam also painted the manholes along with many young people. He said this was a way to help change the public’s littering.

Ngo Thanh Duy, a student at Ton Duc Thang University, said it took two to three hours to finish a painting. "I was introduced to the project by my teacher and thought that it also suitable for my major," he said.

Nguyen Hoang Ngan, a local in Binh Thanh, said, "I think the colour co-ordination is impressive. People will feel more reluctant and guilty if they throw rubbish on the street."

Each painting bears a save the world message and calls on people to care for the environment more. Heineken Vietnam said they would review the project's effectiveness a month later and could expand it to other streets.

Some photos of the project:

Dtinews/NLD