Disbursement of public investment capital still faces many difficulties

2024 has passed the halfway mark, however, the disbursement rate of provincial-level public investment capital has not met expectations. Many investors and projects have relatively large capital sources but have not been able to disburse due to many difficulties and obstacles that have not been resolved.

Construction of overpasses belonging to the project of the road connecting Ha Long - Hai Phong expressway to Dong Trieu town.

As of July 25, 2024, the total adjusted public investment capital plan is over VND 16,250 billion, an increase of over VND 2,200 billion compared to the plan assigned by the Provincial People's Council at the beginning of the year. Of which, the provincial budget capital is over VND 6,500 billion.

Although since the beginning of the year, the Provincial Party Committee - People's Council - Provincial People's Committee have issued many documents to lead, direct, urge and established working groups to support and remove difficulties and obstacles in disbursing public investment capital, the disbursement rate of public investment capital in general and provincial budget capital in particular has not met expectations. As of July 25, 2024, the provincial budget disbursement rate has only reached 16.3% of the annual plan, lower than the same period (20%).

For the transitional project group (28 projects), in 2024, a capital plan of over VND 3,700 billion was arranged, accounting for 65% of the total provincial budget capital plan, but so far, only 24% of the plan has been disbursed. Although it is a transitional project group, 13/28 projects have a disbursement rate lower than the provincial average (24.4%), of which some projects have large capital plans but very low disbursement, such as: Riverside road connecting Ha Long - Hai Phong expressway to Dong Trieu town, section from Provincial Road 338 to Dong Trieu town (Phase 1) disbursed 10% of the plan; renovation and upgrading of National Highway 279 from Km0+00 to Km8+600, disbursed 0.5% of the plan; Provincial Media Center Headquarters disbursed 16% of the plan.

As for the group of newly started projects (16 projects), in 2024, a capital plan of over 2,500 billion VND was allocated, but so far only 76.5 billion VND has been disbursed, reaching 3% of the plan. Currently, 3 projects have completed the contractor selection process (Project to renovate and upgrade Provincial Road 333; Ba Che High School; renovation and construction of additional facilities for Quang Ha High School, Hai Ha District); 2 projects are bidding for construction and installation (Project to renovate and upgrade Provincial Road 345; Project to renovate and upgrade Provincial Road 327, section from the provincial gate intersection to the main road of Dong Trieu Town center); 5 projects have approved contractor selection plans and are in the process of implementation; 5 projects are expected to start construction in the third quarter of 2024 and 1 project is expected to start construction in the fourth quarter of 2024 (renovation and upgrading of provincial road 342, section in Ha Long city).

According to the authorities, there are many reasons for the slow disbursement rate, including 5 transitional projects still having problems with site clearance, 1 project has not completed procedures for changing forest use purposes, 6 projects have not yet had a land recovery decision, 9 projects have not completed procedures for land allocation to implement the project; 2 projects still lack foundation reinforcement materials and filling materials. Along with that, at the beginning of the year, investors often focus on implementing the payment and settlement of the 2023 capital plan, the remaining disbursement of 2023 capital is extended and disbursed to 2024, while focusing on repaying the remaining advance balance transferred to 2024.

Contractor for the project to renovate and upgrade provincial road 279 through Quang Hanh ward (Cam Pha city).

Mr. Pham Hong Bien, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment, said: After being assigned the 2024 capital plan, it took many months for all levels and sectors to implement the operational plan, bidding plan, implementation plan, and construction to have accumulated implementation volume; the bidding plan was approved at the beginning of the year, but it was not until mid-year that the contractor was selected, the contract was signed, and the contract capital was advanced. On the other hand, the work of organizing the selection of contractors in the first months of the year was delayed because the documents guiding the new Bidding Law were fully issued, so it was difficult for new projects to be implemented immediately, but had to wait until July and August 2024, including projects allocated from the scoring capital source and the national target program.

To ensure the disbursement rate of public investment capital in general and provincial capital in particular, the Provincial People's Committee is currently focusing on directing relevant departments and branches to urgently complete investment and bidding procedures, striving to start all public investment projects and works under its management, focusing on projects allocated with provincial budget capital plans in 2024. In particular, it is necessary to assign specialized staff to closely follow the process of organizing the preparation and appraisal of project dossiers; carefully checking and reviewing the quality of dossiers before submitting them to the appraisal agency; minimizing the editing of dossiers due to failure to meet requirements.

At the same time, strengthen the work of inspection and supervision of the site, urge contractors and consultants to speed up the progress; assign specific leaders responsible for monitoring the progress of implementation; closely follow up, promptly remove difficulties and take responsibility for the disbursement results of each project, considering this an important basis when evaluating and classifying the level of completion of assigned tasks in 2024 of collectives and individuals. Proactively review and evaluate the disbursement capacity of each project to have a plan to adjust the capital plan from slow-disbursement projects to good-disbursement projects, with the need for additional capital internally by investors according to regulations, to ensure the disbursement of all assigned capital.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/giai-ngan-von-dau-tu-cong-con-nhieu-kho-khan-3313538.html