The Party is concerned about the "lifeblood" of people in drought-stricken areas. Part 3

Lesson 3: Great joy is coming very near...

Emphasizing at the opening session of the 5th Session of the 15th National Assembly on May 22, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that the session will consider and decide on important issues of the country; including "Adjusting the investment policy of the Ka Pet Reservoir Project, Ham Thuan Nam District, Binh Thuan Province". It is expected that at the closing session, the National Assembly will vote to pass the Resolution of the 5th Session, including regulations on adjusting the investment policy of the Ka Pet Reservoir Project. Great joy for the Party Committee, government and people of Binh Thuan province is very close...

Submit to the National Assembly for consideration and adjustment of the policy...

The Ka Pet reservoir irrigation project was put into planning quite early but had the longest investment preparation time of more than 20 years. Realizing the urgent need and expectation of the people, through the sessions, the 15th Provincial National Assembly Delegation has proposed that the National Assembly consider adjusting the project's investment policy. Exchanging information about the reason for this proposal, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation Duong Van An said: The Ka Pet reservoir project is an important national project according to the provisions of the Law on Public Investment, and the National Assembly has approved the investment policy in Resolution No. 93. When the National Assembly's policy was approved, the Prime Minister authorized the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province to be the project investor. In order to carry out the tasks assigned by the Government, the investor has carried out investment preparation work, prepared a feasibility study report, conducted an inventory of the current forest status, selected a consulting contractor and arranged capital for implementation... After the investor completed the survey work to prepare the feasibility study report, due to the large forest area, the large volume of work to assess the current forest status and reforestation, and the implementation must comply with the provisions of relevant laws, the time to prepare the report was prolonged. At the same time, during the preparation of the feasibility study report, due to changes in prices, unit prices, and norms according to the provisions of law, the project investment cost increased. The increase in investment capital was not due to additional items or increased volume compared to the investment policy preparation stage, the basic indicators of the project remained unchanged. Accordingly, the total investment cost is VND 874,089 billion, an increase of VND 288,442 billion compared to the initial total investment approved by the National Assembly in Resolution No. 93. Therefore, according to the provisions of Article 34 of the Law on Public Investment, the investor must prepare a pre-feasibility study report to submit to the National Assembly for consideration and adjustment of the project investment policy.

After the 15th National Assembly approved the list of medium-term public investment projects, the provincial National Assembly delegation had a working session with the Provincial People's Committee on the progress of implementing medium-term public investment projects with central support capital in the province, including the Ka Pet reservoir. The provincial National Assembly delegation proposed that the Provincial People's Committee direct relevant agencies to urgently implement related tasks, processes and procedures to report to the Government to adjust the investment policy to ensure progress. At the same time, the delegation proposed that the central ministries, branches and the Government review the dossier and report to the National Assembly to approve the project adjustment policy, on that basis, the province will implement the next steps and soon construct the Ka Pet reservoir.

… With 3 specific recommendations

Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment (KHCN&MT) Le Quang Huy said: Implementing the assignment of the National Assembly's leaders to preside over the examination of the adjustment of the investment policy of the Ka Pet Reservoir Project in Ham Thuan Nam district, Binh Thuan province (hereinafter referred to as the project); in early March 2023, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment organized a working group to survey the actual implementation of the project. Through monitoring and field surveys, the Standing Committee of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment found that although the project is being implemented slowly compared to the requirements of Resolution No. 93, the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province has made efforts and seriously implemented the tasks as required by the Government. In addition to some subjective reasons, the delay in progress is largely due to objective reasons, in which it is important to emphasize that the project implementation time is when the whole country as well as Binh Thuan province are focusing highly on preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic (it took more than 2 years).

The working delegation of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment surveyed the construction site of the Ka Pet reservoir.

To continue implementing Resolution No. 93 and effectively deploying the project, the Standing Committee of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee has approved the proposal to report to the National Assembly for permission to adjust the project implementation time to the end of 2025 (1 year later than the National Assembly's request). Also according to Chairman of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee of the National Assembly Le Quang Huy, based on supervision, field survey; discussion opinions at the preliminary review meeting; The Standing Committee of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee has reported to the National Assembly Standing Committee for permission to submit to the National Assembly for comments on 3 contents of the Government's proposals at the 5th Session, 15th National Assembly. Specifically, allowing adjustment of the investment policy of the Ka Pet Reservoir Project, Ham Thuan Nam District, Binh Thuan Province. Allowing extension of the implementation time and disbursement of the 2016 central budget reserve fund to December 31, 2023 for the project. Consider allowing the project to be implemented under a special mechanism: Assign the Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province to approve the project; the order, procedures, authority to appraise and decide on project investment are implemented similarly to those for Group A projects according to the provisions of the law on public investment. Regarding the content of adjusting and supplementing the project's replacement forest planting location, it is proposed to assign the Prime Minister to consider and allow the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province to proactively arrange a replacement forest planting plan in accordance with the new provisions of the law and in sync with the project implementation progress. The Standing Committee of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee said that it agreed with the necessity of adjusting the project investment policy.

The Standing Committee of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee said that the People's Council of Binh Thuan province has included this project in the List of key projects of the province for the period 2021-2025 (according to Resolution No. 51 of the Provincial People's Council) and committed to allocating local reserve funds to spend on the additional part of the project. Thereby, it has demonstrated the determination of Binh Thuan province and the expectations of voters in the province in implementing the Ka Pet Lake project. Therefore, after the National Assembly considers and decides on the adjustment of the project investment policy, Binh Thuan province will continue to implement the next steps to construct the project, meeting the set schedule to relieve the "thirst" of the people in the South of Binh Thuan province.

On the very first day of the 5th Session of the 15th National Assembly, the National Assembly listened to Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, authorized by the Prime Minister, present a Report on adjusting the investment policy of the Ka Pet Reservoir Project, Ham Thuan Nam District, Binh Thuan Province. Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy presented a Report on examining the adjustment of the investment policy of the Ka Pet Reservoir Project, Ham Thuan Nam District, Binh Thuan Province...

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