HCMC's Department of Construction had identified nine areas to be kept dry during season high tides in 2016.

The five areas are along the Saigon River in District 2 where Nguyen Van Huong Street is usually flooded, Huynh Tan Phat, Le Van Luong and Tran Xuan Soan Streets in District 7 and National Highway 50 in Binh Chanh District. Districts 2 and 7 are home to large expat communities.

It finished work in the four other areas, Luong Dinh Cua and No.26 Streets in District 2, Provincial Road No.10 in Binh Tan District and Ha Noi Highway in Binh Thanh District in 2016-18.

The VND10 trillion ($430 million) project covering Districts 1, 4, 7, 8, Binh Chanh, and Nha Be was supposed to be completed in June last year, but was suspended in April after a supervising consultant found out steel from China instead of G7 countries, as stipulated in the contract, was used by the private contractor, Trung Nam Group.

G7 refers to the group of seven industrial economies.

Now 77 percent of the work has been done and the rest is expected to be finished in June this year, according to the department.

Scenes of people wading through flooded streets and motorbikes and cars getting stuck during high tides and heavy rains have been common in Saigon for years.

With rising sea levels due to climate change, several studies have warned that a major part of the city could be below sea level in 50 years' time.