Final article: Need to have a plan to overcome difficulties soon

According to information from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, to carry out compensation, support, resettlement and site clearance for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway construction project (section passing through Lao Cai province), the total area that needs to be surveyed is 1,397.05 hectares. Currently, localities have completed field surveys (100% progress).

According to information from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, to carry out compensation, support, resettlement and site clearance for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway construction project (section passing through Lao Cai province), the total area that needs to be surveyed is 1,397.05 hectares. Currently, localities have completed field surveys (100% progress).

However, by November 5, the Department of Agriculture and Environment had only inspected 606.84 hectares (43.43% of progress), of which 149.35 hectares were in Lao Cai ward, 11.09 hectares in Cam Duong ward, 74.5 hectares in Gia Phu commune, and 371.9 hectares in Bao Ha commune. Notably, currently, only 211.9 hectares of land clearance area maps have been signed and approved (accounting for 15.16% of the total area).

The main reason why many maps have not been approved is because the route direction, centerline and project boundaries have changed many times, causing most of the measured area to not meet the approval conditions.

Regarding compensation, support and resettlement, up to this point, local authorities have only issued notices to recover land for 541/4,999 households, reaching 10.8% of progress (including 260 households in Lao Cai ward, 8 households in Cam Duong ward, 117 households in Gia Phu commune, and 156 households in Bao Ha commune); organized statistics and counting of 1,380/4,999 households, reaching 27.6% of progress (including 142 households in Lao Cai ward, 8 households in Cam Duong ward, 124 households in Gia Phu commune, 333 households in Bao Thang commune, 621 households in Bao Ha commune, and 152 households in Chau Que commune); publicly posted compensation, support and resettlement plans for 15 cases.

According to surveys in localities, the implementation of site clearance for the construction of the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project in some places is being temporarily halted to wait for official boundaries from the investor.

Mr. Phung Ngoc Thanh - Vice Chairman of Gia Phu Commune People's Committee shared: "The local authorities and people are very unanimous and actively carry out the site clearance work for the project, but it cannot be done over and over again like this. The cost of counting and measuring alone has increased a lot. The communes all hope that the investor will decide on the route soon to avoid waste and ensure the rights of the people."

Mr. Tran Xuan Phung - Head of the Economic Department of Mau A commune also said that the railway section expected to pass through the commune is only 5.8 km long. In April 2025, the investor determined that the first route had 185 households affected. However, after 4 adjustments, there are still no official figures and the investor has not yet handed over the route markers. Therefore, the commune government had to temporarily stop carrying out site clearance work.

Talking to us, Mr. Ho Cao Khai - Deputy Director of the Department of Construction said: "From March to August 2025, the investor has handed over the project boundary 5 times with many significant changes compared to the first time. There are sections of the centerline that deviate 30 - 90% compared to previous handovers, especially in Au Lau ward and Bao Thang, Gia Phu, Bao Ha, Quy Mong, Mau A communes.

As a result, the entire surveying and cadastral mapping system related to land acquisition had to be adjusted, leading to the progress of site clearance almost "standing still" in many areas.

Regarding the legality, the investor, the Railway Project Management Board (Ministry of Construction), has not yet handed over the route direction, route centerline, and site clearance boundaries. Therefore, currently, localities are having to temporarily suspend the implementation of the work to wait for the official plan of the investor to implement.

Besides, localities have not been provided with funding for site clearance work, so implementation has encountered many difficulties."

“Regarding the plan to overcome difficulties, Lao Cai province requested the Ministry of Construction to soon approve the Feasibility Report of the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong Railway Construction Project to serve as a legal basis for reporting to the Government to allocate additional capital for the province to implement site clearance, especially for the construction locations of resettlement areas, stations, and relocation areas of industrial parks and clusters. Currently, the Railway Project Management Board (Ministry of Construction) has sent working groups to Lao Cai to coordinate with functional agencies and local authorities to discuss plans to overcome difficulties. Hopefully, in the coming time, the problems related to site clearance boundaries will be resolved" - Mr. Ho Cao Khai - Deputy Director of the Department of Construction added.

According to information from the Railway Project Management Board (Ministry of Construction), the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway construction project is divided into two component projects.

Up to now, Component Project 1 - investing in infrastructure connecting stations on the route and station squares has completed the preparation and approval of the Feasibility Study Report, and handed over the site clearance records at 5 stations to localities.

For Component Project 2 - investment in railway construction, the investor has completed the selection and implementation of 4 consulting packages, while 1 package for reviewing the feasibility study report (with a section passing through Lao Cai province) is still being implemented.

In fact, through working sessions with representatives of the Ministry of Construction, Lao Cai province leaders have affirmed that the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway construction project is a large-scale project, the section passing through Lao Cai province has complex terrain, requiring the design consultant to carefully study the route direction to optimize the technique. Lao Cai province also committed to handing over the site on time, but the investor must quickly finalize the route and have a boundary file, not allowing the situation of constantly changing the route direction, route centerline, and boundary as in the past.

In particular, on October 23, at the 4th meeting of the Steering Committee for key works and important national railway projects, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested ministries, branches and localities to urgently review and focus on resolving tasks that are behind schedule, especially site clearance work in the spirit of ensuring that people who give up land for the project have a life equal to or better than their old place of residence.

There are only a few days left until the groundbreaking ceremony of the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway construction investment project, a route that is expected to reshape the socio-economic development space of the entire "Northwest - Delta - Coast" route. However, in order for the project components in Lao Cai province to be implemented synchronously and on schedule, it is necessary to carry out the site clearance work well. Therefore, it is necessary to have the participation of the investor and agencies, departments, branches, authorities at all levels and the consensus of the people in the localities where the route passes through.

Presented by: Huu Huynh

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/bai-cuoi-can-som-co-phuong-an-thao-go-kho-khan-post888442.html