Conclusion of inspection of some projects with difficulties and problems at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

The Government Inspectorate concluded that the implementation of two investment projects under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had many violations, prolonged delays, risk of wasting public investment capital and potential risk of losing the state budget.

The Government Inspectorate announced the decision to inspect two projects at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in July 2025.

On November 3, the Government Inspectorate announced the conclusion of the inspection of compliance with legal regulations in the management of a number of construction investment projects at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Violations in the construction project of headquarters of agencies under the ministry

According to the conclusion, in 2008 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism approved the investment policy for the construction of headquarters of the agencies under the Ministry in Xuan La ward, Tay Ho district (old), Hanoi. The expected completion time is 2010-2013.

However, due to lack of capital, in 2014 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism divided the project into 2 phases, with a total investment of more than 482 billion VND, but to date it has not been completed.

The conclusion stated that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's assignment of the Ministry's Office as the investor in the construction of the project "is not in accordance with regulations".

"During the project implementation process, the investor encountered many shortcomings and defects that prevented the project from being completed and put into use from 2020 to August 2025, risking wasting State investment capital," the conclusion stated.

In addition, the investor was five years late in signing the contract to hire a project management consultant. In package 4 (bored pile and driven pile construction), many technical errors occurred during the construction process. The correction took up to 309 days, slowing down the package's progress and the overall progress of the project, the conclusion stated.

The conclusion also stated that 10/10 construction and equipment packages were behind schedule from 9 to 58 months. It is worth mentioning that the Ministry Office arbitrarily signed an addendum to adjust the progress with the contractor without reporting to the Ministry's leaders, violating the provisions of Decree 37/2015 of the Government.

Responsibility for the above-mentioned shortcomings, limitations, and violations lies with the Ministry's leaders, the Ministry's Office leaders, the project management and supervision consulting units, the construction contractors, and related organizations and individuals, the conclusion stated.

In addition, the investor also adjusted the contract price to exceed the approved package price by more than 11.6 billion VND without consulting the competent authority.

The project was not completed and put into use in 2020, leading to the units not being able to arrange new working locations within 5 years as the set target. There are some items that have degraded and need to be repaired and looked after at a cost of 3,456 billion VND, leading to the risk of wasting investment capital of contractors.

The responsibility for the risk of waste lies with the ministry's leaders in inspecting, supervising, urging, and leading the ministry's Office in each period, along with relevant organizations and individuals, the conclusion stated.

Sports training center project in Sa Pa behind schedule

The National Sports Training Center project in Sa Pa, Lao Cai province was approved for investment in 2012 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, with the last adjustment in 2022, and implementation period from 2021 to 2025.

According to the inspector, the slow progress of site clearance is the main reason for the project's delay, making it impossible to complete in 2025 according to the approved investment decision.

The responsibility for the slow progress of site clearance, slowing down the project implementation progress, and making it impossible to complete and put into use in 2025 belongs to the People's Committee of Lao Cai province, the province's advisory agencies and the People's Committee of Sa Pa town (now Sa Pa ward).

Due to site clearance problems, the construction and equipment installation package was suspended for 405 days (13 months). During this time, the investor did not recover more than 39.6 billion VND in advance payment from the contractor, violating the circular of the Ministry of Finance. According to the inspector, this could cause a waste of investment capital from the state budget during the time the project was suspended.

The responsibility for not recovering the advance payment balance when the construction package was temporarily suspended belongs to the Construction Investment Project Management Board of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The Government Inspector General recommended that the Prime Minister direct the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to organize a review to handle responsibilities and take strict legal action against groups and individuals in each period who have committed violations, shortcomings and defects as pointed out.

The Ministry Office - the project investor of the ministry's headquarters - reviews responsibility for adjusting progress, changing contracts and accepting and paying payments that are not in accordance with regulations.

Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee organized a review of responsibility for the slow site clearance of the Sa Pa National Sports Training Center project.

According to the conclusion, the two packages No. 6 and No. 7 of the project to build headquarters of agencies under the ministry have had their total adjusted value increased in violation of regulations by more than 4.2 billion VND. Of which, package No. 6 (leveling the ground and retaining walls) increased by 1.823 billion VND and package No. 7 (installing transformers and outdoor electricity) increased by 2.381 billion VND.

The inspector requested the investor to reduce the settlement value by more than 4.2 billion VND, and at the same time forced the contractors to return to the state budget the amount of 3.7 billion VND that was paid incorrectly.

In case the above violation amount cannot be remedied, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is responsible for transferring information and records to the investigation agency for handling according to the provisions of law.

Your Majesty

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ket-luan-thanh-tra-mot-so-du-an-co-kho-khan-vuong-mac-tai-bo-van-hoa-the-thao-va-du-lich-20251103201153435.htm