Lesson 1: Localities work while… “waiting”

The Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway construction investment project has a total main line length of 390.9 km, of which the section passing through Lao Cai province is 143.29 km, passing through 12 communes and wards; the starting point is at the rail connection point with China in Lao Cai ward, the ending point is in Au Lau ward.

The Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway construction investment project has a total main line length of 390.9 km, of which the section passing through Lao Cai province is 143.29 km, passing through 12 communes and wards; the starting point is at the rail connection point with China in Lao Cai ward, the ending point is in Au Lau ward.

Immediately after the Government approved the project implementation policy, on August 25, 2025, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 902/QD-UBND to establish 4 working groups to inspect, urge and guide the People's Committees of communes and wards where the project has passed to remove difficulties in site clearance for construction of items. Then, on September 18, 2025, the Department of Agriculture and Environment issued Plan No. 37/KH-SNNMT to deploy and assign tasks to the working groups.

Immediately after having a plan to implement site clearance, the Department of Agriculture and Environment and local authorities with the railway passing through urgently coordinated with the Railway Project Management Board ( Ministry of Construction ) and the consulting unit to survey and determine the route direction to come up with a site clearance plan.

Along with that, local authorities have also actively propagated and implemented the planning announcement and route map that have been determined by the investor to the people. Some localities have proactively conducted measurements, statistics, pricing and requested households to move constructions, architectural objects, and crops to be ready to hand over the site for project implementation.

According to preliminary statistics, the section passing through Lao Cai province has a total land area that needs to be surveyed of 1,397.05 hectares; affecting 4,999 households. However, according to information from localities, currently, the site clearance work is facing many difficulties and obstacles because the investor constantly changes the route direction and the centerline boundary.

Bao Ha commune is a locality with 26.8 km of railway passing through and has a main station built in Tan Lap village.

Since April 2025, immediately after the Railway Project Management Board and the Provincial People's Committee agreed on the route and component projects, the Commune People's Committee has mobilized functional forces to each plot, each village and household to measure and count, but in reality, many difficulties have arisen, affecting the lives and production of households.

Although the local government and people are very unanimous and proactive in the land clearance work, after a short time, the investor changes the route direction and centerline. Each time the route changes, the map must be redone, and the data entered into the system must be canceled. We cannot explain anything further until we have been handed over the official route markers."

Mr. Tran Trung Kien - Chairman of Bao Ha Commune People's Committee

In Tan Lap village (Bao Ha commune), where more than 40 households are located in the area where land must be reclaimed to build a railway, we met Mr. Le Dai Duong, his wife and some workers in the village digging up the family's fruit-bearing rose bushes to sell.

Mr. Le Dai Duong said: "In early April, the Commune People's Committee announced that the high-speed railway would pass through the rose garden and my family's house. After that, the land officials came to measure, calculate and set compensation prices. Because this is an important national project, my family agreed and proactively prepared to sell or move 200 fruit-bearing persimmon trees (over 20 years old), 300 areca trees, 500 sapodilla trees, and were ready to dismantle the house to move to a new place.

However, I recently saw information that the authorities changed the route and boundaries of the land clearance, which made my family very worried. Because I don't know how the money my family spent to move the trees and the damage from not being able to harvest will be calculated if the State does not take the land anymore. In addition, there is no plan to grant resettlement land, so my family has to temporarily stop and wait."

Sharing Mr. Duong's concerns, Ms. Dang Thi Luan - Head of Tan Lap village also informed: "In the village, there are 9 households that have to move their houses. Currently, we have notified each household to be ready to hand over their houses to receive resettlement land. However, with the constant changes in the investor's route direction, it is very difficult for people to proactively find land or have a suitable plan to repair or move their houses.

Besides, Tan Lap is a key fruit-growing village of the commune, so the inaccurate information about the route makes many households not dare to invest in tree care or have plans to move the trees, affecting economic development and life.

Villagers hope that the authorities will decide on the route soon and accurately so that they can proactively plan production and housing construction.

The situation of many changes in the route and centerline of the standard gauge railway passing through Gia Phu commune is also causing many difficulties for local authorities in implementing site clearance plans.

"The investor's change of route and centerline for the fifth time has caused many difficulties for the local government. To clear the land for the construction of 12.8 km of railway passing through the commune, the locality has counted the land and houses of 451 households, of which 153 households have to move their houses. Land officials have to work continuously every day, but the work is still unfinished due to the change of route. Data entered into the system must be canceled, and plans already made must be deleted. Regarding funding, according to the report of the Economic Department, many measurement and counting items are at risk of having to be repaid from the beginning if the route continues to be adjusted...

Mr. Phung Ngoc Thanh - Vice Chairman of Gia Phu Commune People's Committee

According to the information we have recorded, the situation of constantly changing the route direction and centerline when implementing the site clearance for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway construction investment project is also happening in some other localities such as Au Lau ward, Cam Duong ward; communes: Chau Que, Mau A, Bao Thang...

Representatives of local leaders all affirmed that without an exact site clearance milestone, the preparation of a compensation plan would certainly not be possible. Slow compensation would result in slow site handover and, most importantly, would affect production and people's lives.

Presented by: Huu Huynh

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/bai-1-cac-dia-phuong-vua-lam-vua-cho-post888440.html