Lesson 1: Slow Investment Progress
A year after its commencement, the Central Region Linkage Project in Quang Nam province has made little progress. Compensation and land clearance issues remain unresolved.
Obstacles remain. Not much has changed since the commencement of the Central Region Linkage Project in Quang Nam province (July 19, 2023). The deadline of April 30, 2024, or at the latest June 30, 2024, for the handover of the entire construction site, as determined by inspections and conclusions of the Provincial Party Secretary and Head of the Steering Committee for accelerating compensation and land clearance for key projects in 2021-2025, has not been met.
During an inspection in late June 2024, Provincial Party Secretary Luong Nguyen Minh Triet stated that the project's investment progress was slow. The investor needed to coordinate with local authorities and begin construction wherever land was available to ensure timely completion.
The 31.5km road, passing through several localities (Thang Binh, Phu Ninh, Tien Phuoc, Bac Tra My), is experiencing breaks and interruptions. Contractors have cast enough culvert components, but are only constructing the foundation and horizontal drainage culverts on sections where there is sufficient land (Phu Ninh, Tien Phuoc, Bac Tra My).
The Truong Giang Bridge (Binh Nam, Thang Binh) has completed casting 28 out of 48 super T girders and constructing 18 out of 64 bored piles. Compensation for land previously used for shrimp ponds at the construction site of abutment M1 and piers T1 and T2 has not yet been paid, preventing construction from proceeding.
According to the Project Management Board for Investment and Construction of Transportation Works (the investor), compensation, land clearance, and resettlement face many difficulties and delays due to the need for lengthy meetings to verify land ownership.
The current land use shows significant changes in area compared to the land use right certificate. The land is being used for purposes other than those stated in the land use right certificate.
The approval of specific land prices for submission to the compensation plan for appraisal and approval is slow. Some localities have not yet completed the approval of specific land prices. Resettlement areas implemented by localities are not yet completed, so there is no basis for preparing, appraising, and approving compensation plans for cases requiring resettlement.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tam, Director of the Project Management Board for Investment and Construction of Transportation Works, said that nearly 40% of the land (12.5/31.5km) has been handed over, but not continuously, making construction difficult.
Many infrastructures along the route, such as electricity and fiber optic cables, have not yet been relocated. The completed work volume has only reached 80 out of 516 billion VND. The investor is coordinating with the People's Committees of the districts through which the project passes to continue compensation and land clearance for the remaining portion in order to hand over the construction site.
The investor reports that the 2km section through Thang Binh is currently blocked due to 12 shrimp ponds. Residents are refusing to hand over the land. The People's Committee of Binh Nam commune has not yet reviewed and reported on 6 plots of land (5%). There is no land available for reburial or relocation of graves (192 graves in the residential area and 5 graves along the route). The 1.9km section through Phu Ninh has not yet had its adjusted and supplementary survey documents approved. The 21.9km section through Tien Phuoc has many plots of land that do not meet the conditions for compensation.
The people have not yet completed the procedures for inheritance, gifting, or transfer of agricultural land, nor have they extended the land use period. Approximately 30 households have had their compensation plans approved, but they "rejected" the low price and refused to accept the compensation money.
The project's resettlement areas have not yet been fully developed, lacking the necessary basis to prepare compensation, land clearance, and resettlement plans for households affected by housing issues.
In the 5.7km section through Bac Tra My, 11 households have not yet received compensation related to low prices, houses close to the land acquisition line, and requests for adjustment of the land acquisition line; 15 households and 1 Protestant organization have not yet approved the compensation plan...
Delay
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tam acknowledged during the Provincial People's Council Standing Committee's oversight session on June 6, 2024, that the project's implementation had been delayed. The bidding and contract awarding process involved numerous procedures that needed to be completed to comply with donor regulations, thus prolonging the timeline.
The delay in project implementation is not the "fault" of the investor, but rather stems from difficulties ranging from public investment capital planning to overlapping laws on investment, construction, and land. The complicated COVID-19 pandemic disrupted coordination with foreign personnel, affecting the project's progress.
According to the Department of Planning and Investment, the investment policy for this project was approved by the Prime Minister on June 27, 2016. The Provincial People's Committee approved the investment on April 17, 2017. The Provincial People's Committee has reported to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to register the project list and capital level in the medium-term public investment plan for 2016-2020.
However, since negotiations and agreements with donors have not yet been signed, the project has not been allocated funding in the 2016-2020 medium-term public investment plan, and therefore has no basis for implementation.
Legal documents regarding the use of ODA funds, investment, construction, and land have undergone numerous adjustments. This incident led to the project requiring three revisions and changes (2018, 2020 & 2021), prolonging the implementation time.
According to the investor, the difficulty of this project (commonly encountered in projects using ODA funds) is that the bidding packages must be subject to international tendering (design drawings and cost estimates, construction), and the time required for preparing bidding documents and other procedures is also longer than domestic bidding.
The regulations stipulate that at each stage of implementation, the donor's opinion must be sought (the longlist and shortlist of consultants, tender documents, technical proposal evaluation results, financial evaluation results, contract negotiations, and the contract itself must be submitted and approved by the donor).
The lengthy time required to review donor feedback, and the need for multiple revisions and improvements based on donor comments, have led to delays in the contractor selection process, which is one of the main reasons for the delay.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tam said that the investor had repeatedly sent letters requesting the sponsor to expedite the review process. It wasn't until the second quarter of 2023 that the investor completed the contractor selection and signed the construction contract for the transportation infrastructure, and began compensation and land clearance.
According to the plan, the project was supposed to complete construction work as per the signed contract before December 5, 2025. However, given the numerous obstacles and complexities currently facing the project, it is unlikely that it will be completed on schedule.
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Final article: The necessity of adapting to reality
The Central Region Linkage Project in Quang Nam province was approved in 2017. The total investment is US$34.5 million, of which US$25.47 million is ODA funding, provided by the South Korean government through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), covering construction costs, design and construction drawing consultancy, supervision consultancy, contingency costs, and EDCF service fees; the counterpart funding is US$9.04 million, equivalent to VND 201.2 billion (VND 90.3 billion from the central budget and VND 110.9 billion from the provincial budget), covering project management costs, remaining construction investment consultancy, other costs, compensation, land clearance, taxes, and fees.
Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/du-an-lien-ket-vung-mien-trung-tinh-quang-nam-vi-sao-phai-dieu-chinh-chu-truong-dau-tu-bai-1-tien-do-dau-tu-i-ach-3137605.html
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