Strict penalties will be imposed on contractors who fall behind schedule.

Việt Nam•14/07/2024

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee inspected the construction sites of the following projects: the road connecting Provincial Road 151 (Vo Lao, Van Ban) with the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway (Cam Con, Bao Yen section); upgrading the road from Khanh Yen town to Liem Phu; the road to the center of Dan Thang commune; and the Van Ban District General Hospital.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested that the local authorities be more thorough in monitoring the implementation of the projects.

The leaders of Van Ban district reported to the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee on the progress of construction, the difficulties and obstacles encountered, and proposed recommendations to the province for each project.

Specifically, The project connecting Provincial Road 151 (Vo Lao, Van Ban) with the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway (Cam Con, Bao Yen section) has a total investment of 115 billion VND. The project is a Class III mountainous road with a gravel surface structure.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee inspected the construction site of the project connecting Provincial Road 151 (Vo Lao, Van Ban) with the Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway (Cam Con, Bao Yen section).

The relevant authorities have completed the statistical survey and assessment of the current land acquisition status for 156 households in Vo Lao commune (Van Ban district) and Cam Con commune (Bao Yen district); issued land acquisition decisions for 104 households and finalized the land acquisition dossiers and procedures for the remaining households in the two communes. The construction unit has excavated the roadbed from Km1+00 to Km7+00, constructed the horizontal drainage culverts and embankment from Km3+00 to Km7+00, and the culvert at Km1+121, achieving 35% of the contract value.

The current difficulty is that during the implementation of the limonite iron ore discovery project, the unit reported and sought the opinion of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment . On June 27, 2023, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment issued document No. 4981/BTNMT-KSVN regarding the collection, management, and protection of minerals during the project. In addition, there is a large bridge over the Ngoi Nhu stream along the route, planned to run over the Vo Lao hydroelectric dam. However, the Vo Lao hydroelectric project has not yet received investment approval; therefore, the road will not be open to traffic upon completion due to the lack of a bridge over the stream.

Checking the progress of the road upgrade project from the center of Khanh Yen town to Liem Phu.

The project to upgrade the road from the center of Khanh Yen town to Liem Phu has a total investment of 49 billion VND, affecting 492 households and requiring the acquisition of over 3.4 hectares of land. Currently, the asphalt concrete road surface has been completed from Km1+259 to Km6+230, and some transverse drainage culverts have been installed from Km2 to Km6+230. The contractor is currently constructing the upper layer of crushed stone base from Km6+230 to Km8+450. The work volume has reached 50% of the contract value.

The construction process necessitated the relocation of electrical, water, and telecommunications infrastructure. Some sections required route adjustments to better suit the actual conditions, and the addition of certain structures along the route was necessary to improve the project's stability and quality. Furthermore, inconsistencies existed between the land acquisition map, the cadastral map, and the land use rights certificates of residents, necessitating verification and adjustments, thus increasing the project's implementation time.

Checking the progress of the project to build a road leading to the center of Dan Thang commune.

The project for the road leading to the center of Dan Thang commune has a total investment of over 40.8 billion VND, with a scale of a mountainous Class V road. Currently, 51 out of 56 households in Dan Thang commune have agreed to the land clearance plan. In Hoa Mac commune, land valuation has been completed for 9 households; for the section of road through Duong Quy commune, a meeting has been held with residents to announce the compensation plan and to schedule the inventory. The cumulative value of construction work completed as of July 14, 2024, has reached approximately 3.32/33.22 billion VND, equivalent to 10% of the contract value.

The most difficult aspect of this project implementation is land clearance, as the project operates on a mechanism where the people donate land and the State provides compensation for assets and crops on the land. Many households disagree with the compensation plan stipulated by the State.

The project to build a new General Hospital in Van Ban District has a total investment of 200 billion VND, aiming to construct a Grade II general hospital with a capacity of 250 beds. The total construction volume has reached 118.594 billion VND, equivalent to 80.6%, with the main building and auxiliary buildings largely completed.

However, the relocation of two 35KV power lines during construction took a considerable amount of time and affected the project's progress.

Checking the construction progress of the new Van Ban District General Hospital project.

Based on the report from Van Ban district and on-site inspection, Mr. Nguyen Trong Hai, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, requested Van Ban district to focus on reviewing and accurately assessing the obstacles related to land acquisition, and to clarify whether the cause of the delay is due to the construction contractor or the land acquisition issues.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested the investor to direct the contractor to complete each stage of the project to facilitate acceptance testing; the consulting and supervision work needs more attention, with strict control over the quality and progress of project implementation; the investor needs to rectify contract management, consulting and supervision work, and conduct surprise inspections of consulting and supervision documents.

Close coordination is needed among localities involved in the projects; there should be no abandonment of responsibility or the use of difficulties and obstacles as excuses for delays.

We request that Van Ban district compile all land-related obstacles and report them to the province for consideration and resolution, emphasizing that construction should begin wherever land is available, without delay, to avoid affecting the transportation and lives of people along the routes.

Closely monitor the construction progress; if it is not on schedule, take decisive action, possibly adding subcontractors, and severely penalize contractors who violate the contract schedule.

Later that same day, Mr. Nguyen Trong Hai, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, inspected the construction sites of basic infrastructure projects in Bao Yen district (Lao Cai Newspaper will continue to provide updates).

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