Adjusting inappropriate issues in driver training and testing

Continuing the question and answer session of National Assembly deputies, on the afternoon of June 7, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang answered and provided information on the management of training, testing, and issuance of driving licenses; on the situation of traffic accidents caused by commercial transport vehicles and current issues with investment projects to upgrade road traffic infrastructure under the BOT (build - operate - transfer) form.

Need to innovate driver training and testing

Regarding traffic accidents caused by commercial transport vehicles, delegate Nguyen Thi Hue ( Bac Kan ) cited a report from the Ministry of Transport, stating that accidents caused by commercial transport vehicles account for about 50% of particularly serious traffic accidents. The reason is that many transport businesses have not strictly complied with regulations such as handing over vehicles to people who have not had a health check; forcing delivery times or increasing trips when truck drivers run overtime, run at high speeds, or run day and night, leading to drowsiness and causing accidents. Delegate Nguyen Thi Hue questioned the Minister about solutions to tighten this situation.

In addition, the delegate raised the issue that in some localities, the management of training, testing, and issuance of driving licenses still has many limitations such as: training exceeds the number of licensed drivers, and inspection and supervision have not been implemented in some places. The supervision of learning and testing is still a formality, and there is still a situation of issuing driving licenses to drug addicts and people who do not have the capacity to act or are not healthy. Delegate Nguyen Thi Hue asked the Minister to provide solutions to end this situation in order to improve the quality of this work.

National Assembly delegate of Bac Kan province Nguyen Thi Hue asks questions. Photo: Minh Duc/VNA

Responding to the issue of driving licenses, Minister Nguyen Van Thang said that recently, the Ministry conducted a comprehensive inspection in 63 provinces and cities on the quality of training, organization of theory exams, and driving tests.

In particular, when discovering the training and granting of degrees to addicts, lacking sufficient behavior, the Minister said he had directed the Ministry Inspectorate to handle it strictly; at the same time, transferred 6 sets of documents to the police agency for handling.

The Ministry of Transport has urgently directed the revision of circulars, tightened management, and resolutely prevented the training and granting of degrees to drug addicts. The Minister affirmed that upcoming solutions will be clearly stated in directives and circulars.

According to the Minister, currently, the work of training supervision, testing, certification, inspection and examination has been decentralized to localities. The Ministry of Transport is only responsible for the State management function. The Ministry has directed all Departments of Transport to focus on leadership, direction and strict handling of violations.

Regarding the phenomenon of transport business owners forcing drivers to work all night, causing accidents, the Minister said that this is a reality reflected by public opinion and the press. In Directive No. 10 dated April 19, 2023 on strengthening the assurance of road traffic safety and order in the new situation, the Prime Minister requested that, for traffic accidents that cause serious impacts, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee needs to preside over the assessment to determine the causes and solutions to overcome them, draw lessons, and individualize the responsibilities of relevant collectives and individuals.

The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Security have carefully researched to make reasonable provisions in the draft laws related to traffic safety and order that will be submitted to the National Assembly.

Debate on driver training, delegate Dieu Huynh Sang (Binh Phuoc) pointed out the current problems and shortcomings that cause waste of resources and time for society and make it difficult to implement digital transformation. In particular, the traditional theory teaching regulations, students must attend class to take attendance,... are no longer suitable for the majority of learners, going against the trends and achievements of science and technology. According to the delegate, driver training and testing is a professional activity, according to regulations, there are formal and regular training forms, but the legal system is not yet unified, causing difficulties for voters and people.

Responding to delegate Dieu Huynh Sang, the Minister of Transport said that through the recent review, the Ministry identified the above limitations and problems. The Ministry's solution is to adjust the issues that are no longer appropriate in the circular, in order to improve the quality of training, ensure convenience, avoid waste,...

Overcoming financial mechanism problems in BOT projects

National Assembly delegate of Gia Lai province Le Hoang Anh. Photo: Doan Tan/VNA

Speaking at the question and answer session, delegate Le Hoang Anh (Gia Lai) raised the issue that, implementing the policies of the Party, the State, and the Transport sector, many enterprises have joined hands to invest in upgrading road traffic infrastructure under the BOT form. However, up to now, some enterprises have not been able to recover the investment capital invested by the Ministry of Transport using the state budget for parallel routes or bypass routes, disrupting the project's financial plan.

The delegate cited an example of investors in Gia Lai investing in upgrading and expanding Ho Chi Minh Road and National Highway 14 in Dak Lak under the BOT model. Less than a year after being put into use, the Ministry of Transport invested from the state budget in the Buon Ho town bypass, causing serious damage to businesses and businesses are on the brink of bankruptcy. Delegate Le Hoang Anh asked the Minister to provide a solution to the above problem.

Responding to questions from delegates, Minister Nguyen Van Thang said that there were cases where businesses and investors invested in BOT projects, but the state later opened parallel branch lines, affecting the effectiveness of these projects. However, the Minister said that in the process of developing the country, the strategy for developing transport infrastructure sometimes fails to fully anticipate the possibilities.

The Minister said that 10 or 15 years ago, the demand for developing transport infrastructure was huge, resources were limited, we created all conditions to attract investors. When the economy and society developed, we built plans and strategies, along with practical development, when reviewing, we saw the need to continue investing in transport infrastructure. Therefore, many projects were affected. The Minister said that when the entire North-South expressway in the East was completed, many businesses were affected, and traffic was shared.

The Law on Investment under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP Law) also stipulates that when a BOT investment project of an enterprise has revenue exceeding 125% of the estimate, the investor must share it with the State. If the revenue is lower than 75% of the estimate, the State must share it with the enterprise. With the project mentioned by the delegate, when building the Buon Ho bypass, the Quang Duc BOT project was affected. The Minister said this is a problem and limitation. In the near future, the Ministry will advise the Government to submit to the National Assembly a mechanism to collect the State capital invested in expressways, and a mechanism to handle BOT routes affected by the State's investment in expressways and bypasses.

According to VNA/Tin Tuc Newspaper

Source link