Construction sites without days off
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assessed that public investment is one of the important driving forces for economic growth, especially in the current very difficult conditions. Transport projects account for a very large proportion of public investment capital in the 2021-2025 period, and are being implemented simultaneously in all regions, with the North-South and East-West expressway systems. According to the head of the Government, the amount of work to be done is very large, requiring great determination, effort, concentration, drasticness, and strength from ministries, branches, investors, contractors, consultants, etc.
Mai Son - National Highway 45 opens to traffic on April 29, 2023
As of April 30, the country had disbursed VND110,633 billion in public investment, reaching 15.65% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister . Although lower than the same period in 2022 (18.48%), in absolute terms, it increased by nearly VND15,000 billion compared to the same period in 2022.
Talking to Thanh Nien, Mr. Pham Quoc Huy, Executive Director of Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet Expressway Project, Project Management Board 7 ( Ministry of Transport ), said that throughout the April 30 holiday, officers, engineers and workers still worked under the harsh sun of the Central region, with the spirit of "3 shifts, 4 teams" to bring the 100.3 km long project to the finish line.
"Currently, the project has completed the main route, the overpasses, and other sub-projects such as traffic organization... to open to traffic on May 19. As for some sub-projects such as the access road, due to problems with the embankment materials, the deadline has been extended to June 30. Although there are some objective difficulties such as the upcoming heavy rains in the locality, the committee is still determined to strive to complete the project on schedule," said Mr. Huy.
After the Nha Trang - Cam Lam and Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet expressways opened to traffic on May 19, the Ministry of Transport is also speeding up construction progress to bring three more North - South expressway projects in the 2017 - 2020 period to completion by the end of 2023.
In the latest directive on accelerating the progress of key projects, the Prime Minister also set the time for the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang, Bien Hoa - Vung Tau, Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot, Hanoi Capital Region Ring Road 4, Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 expressways. The Ministry of Transport and localities must urgently carry out site clearance work to ensure the handover of 70% of the site area and complete the procedures according to regulations to start construction before June 30.
Keep the project on track by all means
On May 10, the Steering Committee of the Component 2 Project of Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 (SC) sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee reporting on difficulties in land acquisition, compensation, and support for the land plot 2D10 (Pham Van Hai Commune, Binh Chanh District) managed by Saigon Forestry Joint Stock Company (FORIMEX). Accordingly, more than 14 hectares of forest land were leased by the state in the form of annual land rental payment, subject to clearance for the Ring Road 3 project, but this enterprise did not cooperate in handing over. Therefore, the Standing Committee of the SC proposed that the City People's Committee issue a document requesting this company to hand over the affected area before May 15. If the company does not hand over, administrative measures will be applied to reclaim the land before May 25.
The very next day (May 11), the Executive Committee continued to send an official dispatch to the Party Committee of Saigon Agricultural Corporation (the parent company of FORIMEX) requesting to check for signs of violations and consider disciplining the Party cell, Party cell committee and related Party members at FORIMEX for not cooperating in handing over land for the project. The "ultimatum" was just sent out 1 day ago, by May 12, FORIMEX had sent a document to the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the Executive Committee and the People's Committee of Binh Chanh District agreeing to hand over the land affected by the Ring Road 3 project, without needing the intervention of the leaders of the City People's Committee.
In 2023, the Ministry of Transport was assigned a record amount of public investment capital of VND 94,161 billion. It is estimated that by the end of April 2023, the Ministry has disbursed about VND 21,809 billion, reaching 23.2% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister, which is also a result higher than the average disbursement level of the whole country.
In just 2 days, 14 hectares of land belonging to an "unwilling, uncooperative" unit were thoroughly handled. Never before has the compensation and site clearance for a project in Ho Chi Minh City been carried out so drastically. Previously, Thu Duc City and Cu Chi District also began to pay compensation to households and organizations that agreed to hand over the site, determined to achieve the goal of handing over 70% of the site in June to meet the schedule for starting construction of 4 construction packages of Ring Road 3.
Mr. Luong Minh Phuc, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board (TCIP), said that the entire political system of the city is focusing on controlling the progress of Ring Road 3 because this project alone accounts for 80% of the public investment disbursement rate that TCIP was assigned by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee this year, equivalent to VND23,000/31,000 billion.
My Thuan 2 Bridge, connecting Trung Luong - My Thuan and My Thuan - Can Tho expressways, is nearing completion.
According to Mr. Phuc, TCIP has transferred the first compensation fund to Thu Duc City and districts in the amount of more than VND5,624 billion. The second phase of VND10,000 billion will continue to be implemented in September and October and will be completed before November this year. The technical design documents of the four construction packages that will start construction at the end of June have also been appraised and approved. From now until the end of June, the investor will organize bidding to select construction contractors, consultants and sign contracts to start the project. The construction will have two payment periods, the first period of about VND2,000 billion at the end of June. In the following months, the construction packages will continue to start construction and receive advance payments. The disbursement rate will fall at the end of the second quarter, gradually increasing in the third and fourth quarters and reaching the disbursement level of VND5,000 billion at the end of the year.
"When an economy enters a recession, many manufacturing industries stagnate, concentrating resources and solutions to disburse public investment capital is a mandatory direction to restore the economy. Infrastructure construction is a labor-intensive activity, creating many jobs, and leading to many services that stimulate consumption. When construction activities are concentrated, the following industries such as iron and steel production and construction materials will also move. This is a catalyst, an important link to change the situation, preventing market recession".
Dr. Vu Anh Tuan, Director of Vietnam - Germany Transport Research and Development Center
"The project's progress before June 30 is still being maintained. The roadmap has a very clear progress, calculated by week. All progress is being controlled according to plan. Ring Road 3 must definitely disburse over 95% this year. City leaders are determined to achieve the record disbursement target to create a turning point for the city's economy," Mr. Phuc affirmed.
Similarly, the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway, an important section of the North - South Expressway connecting with Ring Road 3, creating a connecting loop for the entire Southeast and Southwest regions, has also just been re-constructed after 3 years of "hanging crane". To "rescue" this vital road due to the failure of the foreign loan plan, the investor, VEC, has requested to allocate more than 7,547 billion VND from the legally accumulated cash flow from the enterprise's production and business activities to complete the remaining work. VEC said it will create the best conditions for contractors to complete the contract on schedule and quality in order to complete the entire Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway project as soon as possible, not missing the deadline of 2025 as submitted to the Government.
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