Removing bottlenecks in ODA capital disbursement for Can Tho City

Article and photos: MINH HUYEN

Can Tho City Oncology Hospital, Tran Hoang Na Bridge under the Can Tho City Development and Urban Resilience Enhancement Project, Can Tho River Embankment - Climate Change Response are 3 ODA projects that Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang directly surveyed and directed to remove difficulties during his recent working trip to the city. With the meaning of important projects in the fields of health , traffic connection, climate change adaptation to meet the infrastructure development requirements of Can Tho City in particular and serving the people of the Mekong Delta in general, the Deputy Prime Minister has directed relevant ministries and branches to support the city to soon remove difficulties for these projects.

Dự án bệnh viện Ung bướu TP Cần Thơ hiện đã thi công phần thô.

Can Tho City Oncology Hospital project has now completed the rough construction.

Can Tho City Oncology Hospital is a project using Hungarian ODA loans with a total investment of more than 1,727.9 billion VND. Of which, ODA loans are over 56.9 million Euros, equivalent to more than 1,393.8 billion VND; the rest is Can Tho City's counterpart capital, equivalent to more than 334.1 billion VND. The project has an approved implementation period of 2015-2022 and the loan agreement ends on July 11, 2022. However, to date, the project has only completed the rough construction, and medical equipment has not been installed. The accumulated disbursement of the capital plan from the time of commencement to date is nearly 342.3 billion VND, reaching 22.77%. The disbursement of the loan was delayed due to problems with the commercial contract signed between the Hungarian contractor and the project owner, the Can Tho City Department of Health, when the two sides could not reach an agreement on the method of determining Hungarian origin goods, the list of goods and medical equipment to ensure a minimum Hungarian origin ratio of 50% as stipulated in the Framework Agreement. In addition, the project is estimated to incur an increase of about 26 million Euros in installation costs and medical equipment.

To continue implementing the investment project to build the Oncology Hospital, the People's Committee of Can Tho City proposed two options. Option 1 is to continue implementing the project using Hungarian ODA loans based on determining the value of the volume that the joint venture contractor has implemented along with the remaining volume to adjust the project investment policy and organize the selection of contractors to sign a new contract; negotiate with the sponsor to sign a framework agreement and a new loan agreement. Option 2 is to request permission to stop using Hungarian ODA loans, determine the value of the construction volume, the value paid and unpaid for each contractor. In case the project is allowed to stop using Hungarian ODA capital according to option 2, Can Tho City proposes to request support capital from the central budget, other legal capital sources or capital from other sponsors to implement the remaining volume of the project.

Regarding the Can Tho River Embankment - responding to climate change using loans from the French Development Agency (AFD), the city is facing difficulties in compensation, support, and resettlement, and has not yet handed over enough land for construction. Up to now, the total length of land handed over to 4 construction packages has reached 88.6%, equivalent to 4,571.5m; the remaining 588.5m of land has not been handed over. In fact, up to 793.5m of embankment wall cannot be constructed due to the impact of the unhanded over land and because 205m of the segment is not long enough for construction. In addition, the project is stuck in the procedure of requesting ODA capital and needs the Ministry of Finance to support and guide on appropriate financial solutions.

For Tran Hoang Na Bridge under the CT3-PW-2.4 package of the Can Tho City Development and Urban Resilience Enhancement Project, the total route length is 820m, the main bridge length is 586.9m. The project has a contract value of over 791.4 billion VND. Up to now, 80.53% of the construction volume has been completed and 59% of the disbursement has been made (including advances). The project is in the final stage, so it is necessary to speed up the construction progress, but it is also affected by weather and climate factors when entering the rainy and stormy season. In addition, the Can Tho City ODA Project Management Board also proposed to the Ministry of Construction to add 2 packages under the Can Tho City Development and Urban Resilience Enhancement Project with an additional capital of over 100 billion VND to be implemented in time in 2023.

In general, the procedures for adjusting investment policies for ODA group A projects are very complicated and time-consuming. According to Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee Nguyen Van Hong, the city has assigned the Department of Health to work with the auditing unit to urgently audit the Oncology Hospital project, determine the completed volume and the provisional value to be paid; the unfinished volume and the accompanying provisional value. It is estimated that the project will generate an increase in capital of about 26 million Euros for construction and investment in medical equipment. With the goal of not exceeding the foreign loan capital, the city also proposed to adjust the list of medical equipment expected to be invested from the project's Hungarian loan capital. In addition, when the project is completed and put into operation, it can consider transferring medical equipment from the existing hospital to the new hospital to meet the needs of medical treatment. With the Can Tho river embankment project, the city has resolutely directed Ninh Kieu and Cai Rang districts to promptly hand over the site as committed. The Tran Hoang Na bridge project focuses on urging contractors and construction units to speed up progress to close on September 2, 2023.

At the working session with Can Tho City, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang emphasized: Can Tho City Oncology Hospital is a project of urgent significance for the Mekong Delta region and contributes to reducing the burden on hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore, the responsibility of the Government, ministries, branches and Can Tho City is to promptly resolve the difficulties the project is facing. The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact the Hungarian side, proposing to the Hungarian side to give their opinions on appropriate handling of the Can Tho City Oncology Hospital project. On the Can Tho side, it is necessary to synthesize the opinions of ministries and branches, review the signed contracts and have a comprehensive and detailed report on the project in writing as soon as possible to send to the Deputy Prime Minister. The Deputy Prime Minister will assign ministries and branches to research and chair the organization of a meeting to listen to the overall report on the project, incorporating the opinions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when there is feedback from the Hungarian side. Thereby, discuss, consider, report to the Prime Minister, the Government, or if necessary, report to the Politburo to remove difficulties for the project. The Ministry of Finance supports Can Tho with related procedures of the AFD Embankment project. The Ministry of Construction supports procedures related to the Tran Hoang Na bridge and arising bid packages so that the project can be completed and put into operation soon.

Source link