Removing the "bottleneck" for the Ho Chi Minh road project

Land and material problems

Short of more than 1.2 million cubic meters ^of sand, more than 200,000 ^{cubic meters of} stone and 198 households that have not received compensation, the Ho Chi Minh Road project through An Giang province is facing the risk of being behind schedule. Mr. Le Van Sau - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board said: "The biggest problem is site clearance and a serious lack of construction materials. If not resolved immediately, it will be very difficult to complete in 2025".

According to Mr. Sau, the project needs 2.5 million ^m3 of sand, but lacks 1.2 million ^m3 ; the need for stone is 450,000 ^m3 but only 200,000 ^m3 has been provided. The Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board recommends that the province soon provide an additional 250,000 ^m3 of sand, more than 200,000 ^m3 of stone from the Hon Soc mine, and at the same time completely resolve site clearance problems to speed up the project's progress.

The Ho Chi Minh Road project has a total length of nearly 52km, with a total investment of more than VND3,904 billion, of which 45.3km passes through Vinh Phong, Vinh Tuy, Go Quao and Chau Thanh communes. Comrade Giang Thanh Khoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said that the total area recovered for handover to the project is about 130ha, affecting 1,952 cases, with compensation costs of more than VND648 billion. Up to now, the site clearance work has reached 96.2%; compensation has been paid to 1,754 cases, while 198 cases have not received money. Notably, 71 cases have not yet handed over the site, mainly in Chau Thanh and Vinh Tuy communes. Although some households had agreed in advance, when the contractor implemented the project, they obstructed it, related to the land of the traffic corridor.

Comrade Le Minh Hoan surveyed the construction progress of Ho Chi Minh road in Go Quao commune. Photo: AN LAM

The major difficulty lies in the fact that the locality does not have a resettlement area yet, and must carry out the compensation work in parallel, affecting the progress of arranging new housing for households. In addition, the compensation fund from the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board is sometimes not timely; many land records are mortgaged, disputed, stuck in inheritance procedures, or the landowners are abroad. In addition, 6 technical infrastructure intersections that have not been relocated (220kV power lines, water supply pipes, intersections) also slow down the construction progress.

Recorded in Vinh Tuy commune on the morning of August 12, the contractor is constructing the bridge, the ground, filling the roadbed with sand, and installing wicks in the sections where the ground has been handed over. However, according to the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board, the project progress to date has only been 41.5%.

Determined to reach the finish line on time

Comrade Giang Thanh Khoa added: “The province has directed specialized units, land fund development centers and communes to continue reviewing. In cases where the legal conditions are met, payment plans for the people will be supplemented. In cases where the regulations are not met, we will resolutely handle and protect the construction. The province strives to achieve the goal of handing over the entire site before the end of August 2025.”

Regarding materials, comrade Giang Thanh Khoa informed that the sand source for the Ho Chi Minh road project is no longer available because the mines have increased their capacity by 50%, prioritizing the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway under the direction of the Government, for the Vinh Xuong border gate economic zone. Stone is also in short supply because the province has to focus on the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway and projects serving APEC 2027 in Phu Quoc, requiring up to 4.5 million ^m3 . "The province is planning and bidding to exploit about 40 million ^m3 of stone in each phase. If qualified, priority will be given to supporting the Ho Chi Minh road project," comrade Giang Thanh Khoa affirmed.

To resolve the difficulties for the Ho Chi Minh Road project, the Provincial People's Committee proposed that the Ministry of Construction and the Ho Chi Minh Road Project Management Board soon adjust the box culvert at Km59+482.76 into a bridge, similar to the Ba Bang Canal Bridge on the North-South Expressway, to suit actual conditions. At the same time, the National Assembly considers additional capital to upgrade the Km67 - Km80 section, which has been in operation for more than 10 years and is currently seriously degraded, posing a potential risk to traffic safety.

The Ho Chi Minh Road project through An Giang not only connects inter-regional traffic, but also promotes socio-economic development in the Southwest region. If the bottlenecks in site clearance and resettlement are not resolved soon, the risk of slow progress is real, affecting the goal of completing the project in 2025.

At the recent inspection of the Ho Chi Minh Road project in Go Quao and Vinh Tuy communes, comrade Le Minh Hoan - Member of the Party Central Committee, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly suggested: "The Provincial People's Committee must carefully review, closely coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to report to the National Assembly clearly and transparently, not speaking generally about the situation, difficulties and obstacles in implementing the project. The province must clearly understand each case of the complainant, what the content is, how far it has been handled, whether there is still a possibility of resolving it or not, in order to have the next appropriate solution."

AN LAM

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/go-nut-that-cho-du-an-duong-ho-chi-minh-a426283.html