Speeding up the progress of the 500 kV Lao Cai-Vinh Yen transmission line project

The two-circuit line is nearly 230 km long with 468 pole foundation locations; passing through four provinces: Lao Cai , Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc; with a total investment of more than 7,410 billion VND.

Lesson 1: Synchronously and resolutely clear the land

In the last days of May, in the hot weather, the atmosphere at the construction site of the Lao Cai-Vinh Yen 500kV transmission line project is still bustling and urgent. From the high mountains of Lao Cai province to the plains of Vinh Phuc province, thousands of engineers and workers are working with the spirit of "3 shifts, 4 shifts", "overcoming the sun, overcoming the rain", determined to complete the project on schedule, energizing before September 1, 2025 as directed by the Prime Minister.

The 500 kV Lao Cai-Vinh Yen transmission line project, the section passing through Lao Cai province, is about 49.47 km long, passing through Bao Thang and Bao Yen districts with 100 pole locations. Most of the locations are located on high hills and mountains, difficult construction areas, and urgent construction time. However, with the determination to bring the project to the finish line on schedule, Lao Cai province has made efforts with related units to closely coordinate, focus highly, and synchronously implement many solutions in compensation and site clearance work. With a length of 34.7 km and 67 pole locations, Bao Yen district is the locality with the largest workload in the province.

Identifying this as a national key project of great significance, right from the beginning of the project implementation, the District Party Committee and People's Committee of Bao Yen district mobilized the entire political system to participate. Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Bao Yen district Trinh Tien Duat said: Implementing the direction of the province, the staff of the departments, offices and specialized agencies of the district have increased their work even outside of working hours to ensure the progress of site clearance for the project. With the spirit of "counting during the day and pricing at night", up to this point, Bao Yen district has completed all site clearance work and handed it over to the construction unit; at the same time, paid compensation to 329 households, individuals and one organization with a total compensation of 23.66 billion VND; along with that, resettlement arrangements were carried out for 25 households that had to relocate their houses.

According to the Chairman of the People's Committee of Xuan Thuong Commune, Tran Van Huynh, thanks to the good propaganda work right from the beginning of the project implementation, most households agreed and highly agreed with the regime, policies, compensation levels and support of the State. However, during the construction process, at the foundation of column 84 passing through the area of village 4 Vanh, a cave was discovered underneath, not ensuring the structure of the column foot, the construction unit had to change the position to the new column 84, resulting in 5 households being affected within the power grid corridor. As soon as the situation was reported, the local government leaders coordinated with the investor to mobilize households, and at the same time, together with the district's professional agencies, conducted counting and measurement to compensate the households; thanks to that, the construction unit could immediately proceed with the construction of the new column foundation, ensuring the set progress.

Pointing to the location of the (new) column 84 under construction, Mr. Vang Seo Chao, Ban 3 Thau said: “My family has planted this cinnamon garden for more than four years, just a few more years to harvest. However, due to the urgent nature of the national project, for the development of the locality and the country, my family agreed to clear more than 900 m2 of land to make way for the project to start construction soon”. Thanks to the synchronous implementation of many solutions, with creative approaches and ensuring the principle of “listening to the people, being open, transparent, fair, and following policies”, it has created high consensus, support, and unity among the people. To date, Lao Cai province has completed the work of reclaiming, compensating, and supporting the resettlement of a total of 206 households.

In addition, the determination of resettlement locations for 41 cases has been completed. The grid corridor has approved compensation plans for 494 households; for public roads, 100% of the area required for negotiation, statistics, and compensation has been completed for construction. Currently, 100% of the dumping sites have been handed over to the investor and the construction unit for implementation... As the last province of the route, facing the urgent progress requirements and large workload, Vinh Phuc province has mobilized departments, branches, and localities to participate synchronously and with high determination to meet the common goals of the project. At the same time, a Working Group has been established to monitor, urge, and advise on resolving difficulties during the implementation process; and disseminate project-related contents to the people. Every week, the Provincial People's Committee holds a thematic meeting to evaluate the implementation in the districts where the project passes through, such as: Lap Thach, Tam Duong, Tam Dao, Binh Xuyen, Song Lo...

However, during the implementation process, there are still some difficulties, such as: determining the origin of the land is not clear, people do not have enough documents related to land ownership, some households are still hesitant... Faced with that reality, the province has issued many directive documents, requiring departments, branches and localities to urgently resolve the existing problems. Districts organize regular meetings and directly dialogue with people.

The Department of Agriculture and Environment and the Department of Finance coordinate to re-determine land prices, guide the application of policies in accordance with regulations... The province also promotes propaganda through newspapers, grassroots radio, social networks; strengthens field inspections; commends individuals and groups that perform well and criticizes cases of delay. In mountainous districts such as Lap Thach, Tam Dao, Binh Xuyen..., project management board staff work all day off to measure and count at difficult locations such as hilltops and cliffs. Many resettlement areas have completed detailed planning 1/500, meeting the conditions for land allocation to people. Mr. Nguyen Hong Phuong, Acting Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Xuyen district, outlined the method: To ensure legal strictness, the district issues specific land prices for each area, makes decisions on land recovery, and issues land use right certificates to resettled households.

As of May 30, the province has completed compensation and site clearance for the electric pole foundations, handing over all 101 pole foot locations to the investor for construction. According to Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Vinh Phuc province Nguyen Ngoc Phi, in cases where the land user is still unclear, the province will enforce and protect the construction to ensure progress. For 48 resettlement cases, Song Lo, Lap Thach, and Tam Dao districts have developed a preliminary resettlement plan, mainly on-site resettlement, interspersed, and dispersed. "To ensure the progress of project implementation, the province has directed localities to focus on moving households with houses out of the power line safety corridor.

In the coming time, we will completely resolve the remaining issues; complete the approval of the official site clearance plan of the project before June 10, 2025," Mr. Phi emphasized. In Phu Tho, according to a quick report from the Department of Industry and Trade, the locality has 94 foundation locations passing through three districts of Doan Hung, Thanh Ba, and Phu Ninh. Up to now, the site clearance work has been completed with a total recovered area of more than 10 hectares; the declaration and inventory of the route corridor has been completed in three districts with 126 affected households; 84 households subject to resettlement have been reviewed and approved...

According to the Director of the Thanh Ba District Land Fund Development Center Dinh Hai Nam, the Thanh Ba District People's Committee has issued a Notice of land recovery to implement the project for 47 land users with 61 plots of land in two communes. At the same time, the center has drafted a compensation and support plan, mobilized households to agree with the state's land recovery policy, and handed over the site ahead of schedule to the construction unit for all 16 column foundations. The Lao Cai-Vinh Yen 500 kV transmission line project, the section passing through Yen Bai province, is about 90.2 km long, has 173 column foundations, and the recovered land area is 26.11 hectares.

Up to now, Yen Bai province has proactively supported the investor in adjusting the route, established a Working Group to implement the project investment, directed the People's Committees of districts and communes to establish Steering Committees and Working Groups to remove difficulties and obstacles in compensation and site clearance, ensuring early handover for the investor to implement the project, meeting the schedule. Chairman of the People's Committee of Luc Yen district Hoang Manh Ha said: The Compensation, Support and Resettlement Council is valuing and making plans for households in the power line corridor that must be relocated to organize public announcement of the plan.

As of May 27, plans have been established for 324 out of 364 households that have been inventoried; 40 other households are in the process of completing procedures for land, assets on land... to ensure transparency and compliance with the law. According to Vice Chairman of Yen Bai Provincial People's Committee Ngo Hanh Phuc, currently the implementation of procedures and processes in site clearance work is being carried out in parallel by the locality, while completing documents, so some work has not yet ensured the prescribed procedures. Along with that, the power line passing through Yen Bai is the longest, the workload is large, the construction progress of some column foundation locations is slow, some locations where households request support for road loan money is too high...

The project implementation process encountered many difficulties that slowed down the progress of site clearance in some areas, such as: determining the origin of the land, discrepancies between technical maps and the field, comparison psychology between households, some crops not included in the list of compensation... In addition, many areas do not have available resettlement land funds, forcing districts to adjust planning and create new plans - this takes time... Faced with this reality, the provinces have proactively proposed to the Government to allow flexible application of unit prices, and at the same time assigned departments and branches to provide technical support to speed up the approval of plans to ensure construction progress.

(To be continued)

Source: https://nhandan.vn/day-nhanh-tien-do-du-an-duong-day-500-kv-lao-cai-vinh-yen-post883567.html