Request to clarify responsibility for slow land acquisition of Long Thanh airport

Progress is still very slow

On the afternoon of October 27, the National Assembly discussed in groups the adjustment of some contents of Resolution 53 of the National Assembly on the Feasibility Study Report of the land acquisition, compensation, support and resettlement project of Long Thanh International Airport.

Speaking at the group, National Assembly Delegate Ta Thi Yen (Dien Bien delegation) highly agreed with the Government's Proposal and the Economic Committee's review report on the land acquisition, compensation, support and resettlement project of Long Thanh International Airport. The two documents were very elaborate and provided complete information.

National Assembly Delegate Ta Thi Yen gave comments at the group discussion session.

However, delegates felt worried that the current progress of the project is very slow and facing many difficulties and obstacles while Resolution No. 53 of the National Assembly on the Feasibility Study Report of the project of land acquisition, compensation, support and resettlement of Long Thanh International Airport states that "land acquisition, compensation, support and resettlement will be implemented once and completed before 2021".

Up to now, the Government has proposed extending the implementation period to 2024, which is 3 years behind schedule.

“I also sympathize with the Government when the project implementation fell during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the delay of up to 3 years is very alarming,” Ms. Yen said.

According to Ms. Yen, this is an important national project whose investment policy was decided by the National Assembly, and has received special attention from Government agencies and the National Assembly. The Prime Minister has personally visited the construction site many times to direct, urge, and resolve difficulties, but the progress is still very slow. This is a very big problem related to the effectiveness and efficiency of State management and administration.

It is also because of the slow progress that the State Treasury has stopped disbursing funds for the project because the project fiscal year (2017 - 2021) has ended.

National Assembly deputies at the discussion session of group 15 on the afternoon of October 27.

Delegates wondered how the investor had worked with government agencies to resolve this issue. At the same time, they said that if it was under the authority of the National Assembly, it must be reported to the National Assembly in 2021, or at the latest in 2022, when assessing the possibility of not meeting the disbursement schedule, not waiting until now to report to the National Assembly.

Regarding public investment capital for the 2016-2020 period, in Resolution No. 29 dated July 28, 2021 on the Medium-term Public Investment Plan for the 2021-2025 period, the National Assembly allowed the extension of the disbursement period for VND 1,077,278 billion from the 2018 plan for the land acquisition, compensation, support, and resettlement project of Long Thanh International Airport.

So now, there are still 4,614.28 billion VND of capital from the 2016-2020 medium-term public investment plan that has not been disbursed and the budget has been canceled, in which the Government proposed to extend the disbursement period for 966.749 billion VND of the 2020 capital plan to 2024 .

The female delegate reiterated that the Prime Minister has repeatedly emphasized the need to "change thinking and ways of doing things to match the national key project" and requested to clarify responsibilities when the project's progress is behind schedule.

"Therefore, I and voters really want to know how far the relevant agencies have implemented the Prime Minister's instructions," Ms. Yen expressed.

Need drastic solutions to complete the project on time

The delegate also suggested that the National Assembly should make corresponding adjustments to Resolution No. 53 to fully complete the land recovery work for the entire 5,000 hectares and hand over the entire site of phase 1 according to the content of the Government's Submission No. 374, which has been reported to the National Assembly for consideration, allowing adjustments to some contents of Resolution No. 53 to have a basis for disbursement and implementation of the next steps in accordance with regulations.

However, in the contents that the Government proposes to adjust, the adjustment of project implementation time should also include specific explanations of the responsibilities of individuals and organizations involved in the overall assessment of law enforcement, ensuring the effectiveness of the project, and the interests of the State (waste of resources, investment opportunities, development of localities and economic sectors, etc.);

The legitimate rights of people in the area affected by the project, especially when the Government proposed to adjust the project implementation time to "until the end of 2024" instead of completing before 2021, how will it affect the overall progress of the entire project as stated in Clause 6 of Resolution No. 94.

Perspective of Long Thanh Airport project.

According to the delegate, the land acquisition, compensation, support and resettlement project for Long Thanh International Airport has a land acquisition area of 5,399.35 hectares.

Up to now, 4,882.62 households have been recovered (reaching 98.7%), out of a total of 5,447 affected households, resettlement has been approved for 4,161 households, so what is the status of the remaining 1,286 households? I see that the report has not mentioned this content.

“Therefore, I suggest that relevant agencies pay close attention to this issue, because this is an important national project invested by the State, so all issues related to the rights of people in the project area must be given top priority, to avoid mass complaints,” Ms. Yen commented.

Ms. Yen also suggested that local authorities and investors need to work specifically with each family, to listen, persuade, and thoroughly resolve the interests of the people, considering it as the business of their family and relatives.

"From now until the end of 2024, there is only more than a year left, but according to the report, the land acquisition, compensation, support, and resettlement project of Long Thanh International Airport with many contents is still unfinished, behind schedule and has many causes and difficulties," Ms. Yen noted.

Delegates proposed to review and carefully evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of adjusting the project implementation time from now until the end of 2024. If the National Assembly approves the policy of extending the project implementation time, drastic solutions must be found to complete the project on time.

Why is project progress slow?

Commenting on the adjustment of some contents of Resolution 53 of the National Assembly on the Feasibility Study Report of the Long Thanh International Airport Land Acquisition, Compensation, Support and Resettlement Project, National Assembly Deputy Sung A Lenh (Lao Cai delegation) said that the Government's proposal to the National Assembly to adjust the project implementation time and allow the extension of the capital disbursement time proves that "the project's progress is still very slow and facing many difficulties and obstacles". The main reason is that the progress of the land acquisition, compensation, support and resettlement project is slow.

The delegates suggested that the Government should have a deeper assessment of the reasons for the slow progress of the project, “especially subjective reasons”; and propose more drastic solutions to implement the project so that the National Assembly does not have to consider “adjusting the time and capital for project implementation” in other items in the next stages .

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/de-nghi-giai-trinh-trach-nhiem-vi-thu-hoi-dat-san-bay-long-thanh-cham-a633106.html