The North-South Expressway passes through 39 communes, relocating nearly 700 households in Nghe An.

On the morning of November 30, a working delegation of the Ministry of Transport (MOT) led by Deputy Minister Nguyen Nhat had a meeting with the Provincial People's Committee on the handover of the site clearance sub-project and the feasibility study report of the North-South Expressway Project through Nghe An province. Working with the delegation on the Nghe An side were Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Huynh Thanh Dien, leaders of relevant departments, branches and localities. Photo: Thanh Duy

697 residential houses are subject to relocation

The North-South Expressway passing through Nghe An province belongs to two expressway projects: Nghi Son (Thanh Hoa) - Dien Chau (Nghe An) and Dien Chau (Nghe An) - Bai Vot (Ha Tinh). The Ministry of Transport has appraised and approved the feasibility study report for these two projects on October 30, 2018.

Accordingly, the Nghi Son - Dien Chau section has a total length of 50 km (Thanh Hoa 6.52 km, Nghe An 43.48 km) with a total investment of 8,380 billion VND. On the section, there are major projects such as the 450 m long Truong Vinh tunnel and 3 traffic intersections.

The Dien Chau - Bai Vot section has a total length of 49.3 km (Nghe An 44.4 km, Ha Tinh 4.9 km), with a total investment of 13,338 billion VND. On this section, there are major projects such as the 1,280 m long Than Vu tunnel, the 4 km long Hung Duc bridge, a North-South railway overpass, and 3 traffic intersections.

North-South Expressway route map, Nghi Son - Dien Chau section. Photo: Thanh Duy

North-South Expressway route map, Dien Chau - Bai Vot section. Photo: Thanh Duy

According to the consulting unit, the North-South Expressway section through Nghe An province will pass through 6 districts and towns: Hoang Mai, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, Nghi Loc and Hung Nguyen, in a total of 39 communes and 697 residential houses subject to relocation to serve the project.

Building resettlement areas according to new rural infrastructure standards

At the meeting, members of the working delegation of the Ministry of Transport and Nghe An province discussed and clarified issues related to coordination between the two sides, the time to carry out necessary steps to carry out site clearance, procedures for exploiting land mines to serve the project, etc.

Accordingly, it is expected that by March 2019, Project Management Board 6, Ministry of Transport, will begin handing over site clearance piles to localities.

Speaking at the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Huynh Thanh Dien affirmed that Nghe An province is focusing on effectively implementing site clearance work to serve this national key project.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Huynh Thanh Dien spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

However, because the project involves the resettlement of nearly 700 households, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested the Project Management Board to hand over the site clearance piles earlier than scheduled so that the province can issue a master plan to direct relevant localities to quickly implement this work.

In addition, Vice Chairman Huynh Thanh Dien also requested the Ministry of Transport to have a master plan of the contents and progress to be implemented so that the province can grasp and coordinate implementation.

Agreeing with the opinions raised by Nghe An province, Deputy Minister Nguyen Nhat said that the Ministry of Transport and Project Management Board 6 will directly work with 6 localities of Nghe An province where the expressway passes through to exchange, notify, and discuss related contents such as: handing over detailed documents, the area of ​​land to be recovered, and the number of affected households.

On that basis, districts and towns conduct a comprehensive review and have an implementation plan, especially planning and building resettlement areas for affected people;...

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

The Deputy Minister of Transport also emphasized that the process of site clearance must be carried out carefully and thoughtfully, in conjunction with population rearrangement. Resettlement sites must be built according to new rural infrastructure standards.