Can Tho City: Disbursement "faces difficulties" because many projects are stuck in site clearance

Low disbursement due to land clearance issues.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, Truong Canh Tuyen, worked with the Management Board of Investment Projects for Construction of Transportation and Agricultural Works of Can Tho City.

On October 22nd, Mr. Truong Canh Tuyen, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City , held a working session with the leaders of the Can Tho City Investment and Construction Project Management Board for Transportation and Agriculture (Project Management Board) regarding the unit's operational situation.

According to the Project Management Board's leadership, in 2025, the unit will be the investor for 58 projects, including 42 in the transportation sector, 8 in the civil sector, and 8 in the agriculture and irrigation sector. The total capital for these projects is over 16,000 billion VND, of which nearly 326 billion VND is carried over from 2024 to 2025. Cumulative disbursements as of October 15th reached over 5,332 billion VND, exceeding 33% of the planned capital.

During the implementation of construction investment projects, the Project Management Board encountered the biggest difficulty and obstacle: the prolonged compensation, support, and resettlement process. This prevented contractors from simultaneously carrying out construction along the entire route, directly impacting disbursement; some projects requested extensions to 2026.

Leaders of the Can Tho City Investment and Construction Project Management Board for Transportation and Agriculture reported on the unit's organization and ongoing projects.

Furthermore, investors and contractors are facing difficulties due to a shortage of sand and stone materials. This is because many key national projects are being implemented simultaneously in Can Tho City and neighboring provinces. Therefore, sand and stone are prioritized for expressways; when materials are scarce and transportation distances are long, material prices increase, leading to higher costs and impacting project progress and disbursement. Some projects have had to request extensions to 2026.

Specifically, for the Chau Doc – Can Tho – Soc Trang Expressway construction project, phase 1, components 2, 3, and 4 passing through Can Tho City, with a total capital of over 31,200 billion VND; the Project Management Board remains most concerned about the supply of sand and stone materials. In reality, the project has a very large demand for sand and stone, but the supply is insufficient , with many quarries not yet allocated or experiencing slow exploitation. Meanwhile, Can Tho does not have any material quarries, requiring transportation from other provinces, increasing costs and delaying the project's progress. Therefore, ensuring sufficient material supply to complete the project on schedule by July 2026 is very difficult.

Alternatively, the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 91 (section Km0-Km7), which has commenced with an investment of over 7,200 billion VND, is still facing obstacles in compensation, support, and resettlement for 867 newly affected cases and organizations. Of these, 565 cases have yet to have land acquisition decisions issued, 79 cases have not yet had their legal validity reviewed, and 145 cases have not yet been approved by the compensation, support, and resettlement council.

Establish a task force to resolve land clearance issues.

Director of the Can Tho City Investment and Construction Project Management Board for Transportation and Agriculture, Le Minh Cuong, spoke at the meeting.

The Project Management Board leader stated that many projects the unit is currently implementing are facing land clearance issues. Therefore, the Project Management Board leader requested the People's Committee of Can Tho City to direct the Department of Agriculture and Environment to promptly provide guidance to communes and wards to resolve legal difficulties in determining land prices, land origin, resettlement land prices, and other support...

Simultaneously, the City's Land Development Center, in coordination with communes and wards, is accelerating the compensation payment process and encouraging residents to hand over land by the end of October 2025 so that contractors can begin construction, contributing to ensuring that disbursement meets the set plan.

While awaiting the authorities to resolve difficulties regarding land clearance, the Project Management Board continues to urge and remind contractors to ensure construction proceeds on schedule; resolutely cutting work volume and terminating contracts with contractors who fail to meet committed work volumes. At the same time, it proactively advises the City People's Committee to issue a document to provinces and units managing sand and stone quarries, prioritizing projects to allow contractors to complete their work as directed by the Prime Minister.

The Head of the Land Clearance Management Department reported on the difficulties encountered in land clearance work at the projects.

In his concluding remarks, Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, Truong Canh Tuyen, commended the achievements of the Project Management Board and shared the difficulties arising from objective conditions in the process of merging provinces and cities and consolidating the organizational structure of units. However, with a capital allocation of over 16,000 billion VND for 2025, the disbursement of over 5,300 billion VND to date is still low.

Therefore, in the final months of the year, to ensure accelerated disbursement, the Project Management Board needs to proactively coordinate with relevant departments, communes, and wards to resolve difficulties and obstacles in land clearance; inspect and monitor the construction progress of contractors, and resolutely cut work volume and contracts if contractors violate construction schedules. Furthermore, the Board of Directors should develop weekly and monthly project progress plans to monitor and report to the City People's Committee to promptly address difficulties and obstacles.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, Truong Canh Tuyen, noted that while the Project Management Board should urgently expedite the disbursement of funds, it should also strengthen supervision to ensure the quality of the construction.

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City agreed to establish a working group (primarily led by the Department of Agriculture and Environment) to go down to communes and wards to support localities in carrying out land clearance work, especially in localities with a large volume of land clearance, serving key projects.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, Truong Canh Tuyen, also requested the Project Management Board to continue to promote the spirit of solidarity, forming a unified bloc to decisively implement tasks and complete the work and projects as expected by the Prime Minister, the National Assembly, and the people.

Despite the urgent implementation and ensuring the disbursement of public investment funds, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City noted that the Project Management Board must strengthen supervision, ensure the quality of the construction, labor safety, and avoid affecting the lives of people in the project area.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/tp-can-tho-giai-ngan-gap-kho-vi-nhieu-du-an-vuong-mac-giai-phong-mat-bang-10392507.html