On the afternoon of November 20, in Soc Trang province, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired a meeting to promote expressway projects in the Mekong Delta region. Attending the meeting were representatives of relevant ministries, branches and localities.
Reporting at the meeting, Mr. Le Anh Tuan, Deputy Minister of Transport , said that the Mekong Delta region is currently implementing four key expressway projects, including: the North-South Expressway Eastern section from Can Tho to Ca Mau; the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang Expressway; the Cao Lanh - An Huu Expressway; and the My An - Cao Lanh Expressway.
To ensure the completion of the projects, according to Mr. Tuan, the National Assembly and the Government have allowed the application of a special mechanism in granting permits for material quarries to shorten the implementation time. To date, approximately 38.4 million cubic meters of sand have been eligible for extraction, procedures are being finalized for the supply of 18.35 million cubic meters, and the source of 7.45 million cubic meters of sand is yet to be determined.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired the meeting.
According to Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan, although the basic reserves are sufficient, the exploitation capacity of the mines is limited and has not met the construction progress. Some mines in Dong Thap province (supplying for the Can Tho - Ca Mau project) had to stop, so the volume could not be guaranteed (there are still 0.4 million m3 that cannot be exploited).
An Giang province implemented a project to dredge the Vam Nao River to utilize the recovered minerals for the Can Tho - Ca Mau project, but had to halt operations (due to reaching capacity; dredging projects may increase their extraction capacity). There are still 0.63 million cubic meters that cannot be extracted, and operations at 6 out of 9 mines had to be stopped from the end of October 2024 due to depleted reserves, substandard quality in some mines, excessive depth of excavation, or the risk of riverbank erosion in others.
Vinh Long province has not completed the procedures to increase the capacity of 3 sand mines according to the time of the Confirmation Registration (in particular, from now until December 31, 2024, the Can Tho - Ca Mau project needs 4 million m3 to complete the loading).
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha inspects the progress of construction on the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway.
The Deputy Minister of Transport added that, following the Prime Minister's directive, the provinces of Tien Giang, Ben Tre, and Soc Trang need to complete the procedures for granting sand mining licenses for projects by October 2024. However, the implementation of these procedures has not kept pace with construction progress. In particular, the Can Tho – Hau Giang project, scheduled for completion in 2025, urgently needs additional sand from these localities.
Furthermore, many mines in Tien Giang, Ben Tre, and Soc Trang provinces, upon survey and assessment of quality and reserves, did not meet requirements, necessitating the search for alternative mines, which affected the progress of mine licensing. River sand mines in Soc Trang province have sufficient reserves, but their extraction capacity is very limited; therefore, it is necessary to proactively utilize sea sand to reduce pressure on river sand resources.
Chau Doc - Soc Trang Expressway project is 9% behind schedule.
In Soc Trang province, the component project of Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway (invested by Soc Trang province) is the longest section of the project, more than 58km long, with 4 construction packages.
Up to now, the total value of implementation has reached over 1,171 billion VND, reaching 14.5% of the contract value, 9% behind the plan. Of which, the capital plan for 2024 is arranged at over 2,322 billion VND, up to now, over 1,296 billion VND has been disbursed, reaching 55.8% of the plan...
Mr. Lam Hoang Nghiep - Vice Chairman of Soc Trang Provincial People's Committee spoke at the meeting.
Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Soc Trang Province, Lam Hoang Nghiep, pointed out the difficulties and obstacles in implementing the project in the past time. Specifically, with river sand, it is necessary to carefully assess the impacts of sand mining to limit landslides and impacts on people's lives.
Regarding sea sand mining, there is currently no official maritime boundary between Soc Trang and Tra Vinh provinces, making it difficult to allocate the sea sand mine in Sub-area B1.3 to the construction contractor. Simultaneously, recommendations have been made to ministries, agencies, and the Government on several issues to expedite the construction progress of the expressway project.
Based on the aforementioned advantages and disadvantages, leaders of ministries, sectors, and localities exchanged views, discussed, and reported on the difficulties and obstacles in implementing key projects in their areas; they also reported on the development of plans and submitted them to the Government to assign specific targets to localities with sand resources and proposed a flexible plan for transferring sand resources between projects to meet the construction progress of expressways in the coming period.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha acknowledged and commended the efforts and determination of ministries, branches and localities in surveying routes and balancing capital sources for key national projects.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha speaks at a working session with the Mekong Delta provinces. Photo: Nhat Huy
The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized: “Regarding sand materials, localities must clearly determine the actual extraction capacity to ensure supply for the project. It is unacceptable to claim that reserves are in excess when the actual sand extraction capacity does not meet the construction schedule. For sea sand used in the project, the salinity must be equal to or less than the salinity of the surrounding environment; if the salinity is higher, it must be treated.”
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha noted that it is necessary to ensure a balance of interests between the contractor and the material extraction company, while also preventing project cost overruns. In addition, environmental monitoring and supervision must be based on scientific and technical tools and models to ensure environmental safety and prevent landslides that could affect people's lives.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/pho-thu-tuong-tran-hong-ha-phai-dam-bao-cong-suat-khai-thac-cat-cho-cao-toc-ar908580.html
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