On the afternoon of October 27, at the group discussion session with delegates on the resolution to adjust the content of Resolution 53 of the National Assembly related to the site clearance and resettlement project of Long Thanh airport, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang explained to the delegates' comments why only 60% of the site clearance and resettlement project has been disbursed so far and that this delay has affected the overall progress of the airport.
According to Mr. Thang, the Long Thanh International Airport construction project is an important national project, the largest airport project ever and has the largest total investment ever in the aviation sector.
The site clearance component alone covers a very large area, over 5,000 hectares, including 5,000 hectares for the airport and over 300 hectares for the resettlement area and the area outside the airport. Meanwhile, the project implementation context has had unforeseen changes.
The Minister emphasized that during the two years of Covid-19 (2020-2021), the situation was very difficult to carry out the work, especially going to the site to inspect, evaluate and accept the handover. After Covid-19 was controlled, the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out. This event caused the price of raw materials to increase, affecting the project to build a resettlement area for the people.
"In 2022, when I accompanied the Prime Minister to inspect the resettlement project, the areas that are very important to the people, such as schools, had to be stopped because, according to a report from Dong Nai province, the contractors abandoned them. The reason was that the price of raw materials increased much higher than the bid price, combined with the difficulties of Covid-19, many businesses could no longer afford to continue. Therefore, the resettlement area construction project was affected," said the Minister.
Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang at the group discussion session on the afternoon of October 27 (Photo: Duy Linh).
However, according to the Minister, “up to this moment, projects are being restarted and implemented again. The most difficult stage in terms of site clearance progress has passed.”
Responding to the concern of delegate Ta Thi Yen ( Dien Bien delegation) about whether if this compensation and resettlement project is extended for another 3 years, it will affect the overall progress, the Minister of Transport said that although the project to clear the resettlement area may be extended until 2024, the overall progress of the Long Thanh project is still under control.
"Personally, as both the Minister of Transport and someone who is very closely involved in the project, I think that the overall project of Long Thanh Airport, if delayed, will not be more than a year. The reason is that the entire area for construction of phase 1 - more than 2,500 hectares - has been fully handed over," the Minister stated.
Furthermore, the most important progress issue is the Long Thanh International Airport terminal project, which has now selected a contractor and is being implemented. “In the slowest case, this terminal will be completed by the end of 2026,” Mr. Thang emphasized.
The Minister also affirmed that other component projects are currently following the progress of the station project. “Many projects are progressing slightly, many projects are ensuring progress,” he said, and affirmed that we can rest assured that the slow disbursement of the resettlement project will not affect the overall progress of the project.
On October 26, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang, on behalf of the Government, submitted to the National Assembly a proposal to adjust some contents of the National Assembly Resolution on the feasibility study report for the land acquisition, compensation, support and resettlement project of Long Thanh International Airport.
The Government proposed to extend the project until the end of 2024 due to the complicated developments of the pandemic in 2020-2021; coordination with people to measure, count, and develop land compensation plans encountered many difficulties; the workload was large.
Long Thanh Airport has a designed capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 million tons of cargo per year. The total investment capital of the project is about VND336,630 billion (USD16 billion), of which the first phase to be completed in 2025 is VND114,450 billion (USD5.45 billion) .
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