More than 5,500 billion VND, unfinished for 15 years

TPO – The Ban Mong Reservoir Project was approved in 2009 with an investment of more than VND3,700 billion, then adjusted to increase to more than VND5,550 billion. However, the largest irrigation project in Nghe An has not been able to operate for 15 years.

Dream project?

Ban Mong Reservoir is the largest irrigation project in Nghe An, invested by Irrigation Investment and Construction Management Board 4 (Board 4), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The Ban Mong Reservoir project is built in the districts of Quy Hop, Quy Chau and Nghia Dan, Nghe An province and partly in Nhu Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province with a capacity of 225 million m3 of water, serving irrigation for more than 18,800 hectares of agricultural land.

According to the design, the main concrete dam is 221 m long, over 45 m high, with a spillway consisting of 5 chambers, each chamber is 75 m wide. In addition, in the main dam body there is also Ban Mong Hydropower Plant with an installed capacity of 45 MW.

The project was approved in 2009 with a capital of more than 3,700 billion VND, then adjusted to increase by 1,808 billion VND to a total capital of 5,552 billion VND. However, the construction has lasted for 15 years without being able to come into operation, causing great consequences for local people as well as the economic and social development of the area.

Ban Mong Reservoir is the largest irrigation project in Nghe An.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the construction component of the project has so far been completed at over 95%, while the compensation and site clearance work (under the responsibility of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces) still has a huge amount of work to be done.

According to the results of the progress assessment received by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, currently in Nghe An province, there are still some works behind schedule compared to the plan set by the Steering Committee 4 for the project implementation. In particular, the project adjustment work was required to be completed before October 30, but up to now, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has only received a report from the Provincial People's Committee, lacking the content of adjusting the design of Chau Binh canal.

In addition, the implementation of the work of placing additional markers and measuring the lake bed elevation has been delayed by about 1 month. The Provincial People's Committee has not yet issued a document on blocking the flow, and has not yet added irrigation land indicators to implement phase 2 of the project...

Currently, the capital disbursement progress in Nghe An is still at 0/100 billion VND, which shows that the work has not been implemented much in the field.

For Thanh Hoa province, many tasks have basically met the schedule such as: Completing the survey and inventory, disbursement reached 184/230 billion of the 2024 plan; the content of the problems has been almost handled, especially the irrigation land target has been supplemented. However, the progress of the resettlement area construction item is very slow, the work of collecting forest products has not been carried out, and there is no document from the Provincial People's Committee on blocking the river.

Deadline for completion before 12/31/2025

In order for the project to be completed on schedule and to promote investment efficiency, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued a directive requiring units to focus on completing the work steps according to their functions and tasks. In particular, the Ministry requires Board 4 to urgently complete relevant procedures, submit to the Ministry and report to the State Acceptance Council on the river blocking; preside over the organization with construction units and related units to carry out the river blocking construction from the beginning of November; deploy all remaining tasks to ensure the completion of the entire project before December 31, 2025.

Ban Mong Reservoir project has a capacity of 225 million m3 of water, serving irrigation for more than 18,800 hectares of agricultural land.

For Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development requires speeding up the implementation of compensation, site clearance, and resettlement, while ensuring the safety of the reservoir area to complete the procedures for blocking the headworks on November 1. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the provinces monitors and reviews the progress, clearly evaluates the implementation in the past compared to the established plan, identifies the causes, reasons for the delay, and solutions to overcome the problems.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development especially noted the need to speed up the progress of the resettlement area construction project in Nhu Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province - this part of the work is assessed by the Ministry to be being implemented very slowly.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep - Head of the Steering Committee for the implementation of the Ban Mong Reservoir Project - affirmed his determination to complete all phases of the project, ensuring the completion of phase 1 before December 31, 2025, completing site clearance before July 31, 2025, and proceeding to block the flow of the main project starting yesterday (November 1).

On October 31, the Investigation Police Agency - Ministry of Public Security initiated a case of "Violation of accounting regulations causing serious consequences" and "Violation of bidding regulations causing serious consequences" related to violations in the investment and implementation process of the Ban Mong Reservoir Project, Nghe An Province. The Investigation Agency determined that this project was behind schedule, had to adjust the total investment many times, causing great waste to the state budget.

Thanh Huyen

Source: https://tienphong.vn/du-an-ho-chua-nuoc-ban-mong-hon-5500-ty-dong-dang-do-15-nam-post1687848.tpo