North-South Expressway will increase investment by 600,000 billion if it is not completed on time

On April 22, the working delegation of the National Assembly Economic Committee led by Mr. Nguyen Duc Kien and Mr. Duong Quoc Anh - Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Economic Committee, together with leaders of the Ministry of Transport, conducted a survey of the North - South expressway project through the provinces of Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, and Nghe An.

According to the report of Ninh Binh Department of Transport, the representative of the investor of the Cao Bo - Mai Son component project, this section has a total length of 15.2km, invested and constructed through two independent projects. In particular, the project to adjust the route connecting Cau Gie - Ninh Binh Expressway with National Highway 1A, 8.035km long (This project was approved by the Ministry of Transport since June 2018) has completed about 15% of the volume, equivalent to about 80 billion VND. It is expected that the entire bridge section will be completed in 2019, the road section in October 2020.

The investment component for the construction of the Cao Bo (Nam Dinh) - Mai Son (Ninh Binh) section of the project to build a number of expressway sections on the North - South Eastern route in the 2017 - 2020 period has now handed over 7.5/15,245 km of agricultural land and will hand over all the land in September 2019. It is expected that the bidding will be organized in June this year, the contractor will be selected in July and the construction will be completed in 2021. The Ninh Binh Department of Transport said: it will try to disburse 675 billion VND in 2019.

The Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee said: the adjustments are aimed at the people's interests but are in accordance with the law.

As for the 4 component projects from Thanh Hoa through Nghe An and to Bai Vot (Ha Tinh), representatives of the investors said: Since March 30, 2019, the investors and project design consultants have handed over basic design documents and land acquisition markers in some sections for localities to conduct inventory work, develop land acquisition plans, and arrange resettlement. Up to now, all localities have established a Land Acquisition Steering Committee to implement and have not recorded any major problems; If funding is allocated, the implementation of land acquisition can begin from May 2019. However, in the area of ​​the QL7B overpass (Nghe An), the locality is proposing to adjust the design according to the plan for the expressway to cross the national highway, in order to minimize the impact on people, including 160 households that participated in the bidding for urban land in the area along the QL7B road.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Duc Kien - Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Economic Committee said: The North - South Expressway is a very important project, so the National Assembly is very interested. Regarding site clearance, the investor and the locality must coordinate closely to see if there are any remaining problems and resolve them immediately. With the proposal to invest in adding an additional overpass unit on National Highway 10, the investor must immediately implement it in accordance with the approved decision. When completed, a document will be sent to the Ministry of Transport and submitted to the National Assembly for consideration to use the remaining capital for implementation. With the overpass option on National Highway 7B, TEDI consultants must work with the commune and district to determine the level of impact on the people to come up with the optimal solution. The viewpoint is that the adjustments do not change the total investment; the adjustments are for the people but must comply with the provisions of the law. In May 2019, the Delegation will meet again with the Ministry of Transport and the localities, before reporting to the National Assembly on the route plan.

The North-South Expressway is an extremely important artery in the country's socio-economic development. (Illustration photo)

During the field inspection and working process with investors and localities, the working group and Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat agreed on the timeline for implementing the Eastern North-South Expressway project. Specifically, by April 30, 2019, investors must work with localities to complete the site clearance. By 2019, the site clearance work for the sections from Mai Son (Thanh Hoa) to Bai Vot (Ha Tinh) will be basically completed. By the end of the first quarter of 2020, investors will be selected and construction of the component projects will begin simultaneously.

To achieve this goal, Deputy Minister Nguyen Nhat said: The Ministry has directed the Project Management Boards and design consultants to closely coordinate with localities to promptly and thoroughly resolve existing problems and issues arising during the implementation process. The Ministry also requested localities to mobilize the entire political system to participate, considering this as one of the key and priority tasks to be implemented in this period. Up to this point, the Project Management Boards, consultants and localities are still making great efforts, closely following the timelines set by the National Assembly, the Government and the Ministry of Transport.

Emphasizing the benefits of completing the project on schedule, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Economic Committee Nguyen Duc Kien said: If the North-South expressway projects are not completed in 2021-2022 as planned, the investment capital of nearly 200 trillion VND of state capital and state capital mobilized through BOT will not be effective. One dong of capital invested in transport infrastructure development can mobilize 3 more dongs of capital for socio-economic development investment. Thus, we will lose about 600 trillion VND of investment in socio-economic development. In addition, completing the expressways on schedule will bring many other benefits, especially in road transport.