Con Cuong: 10.5 km of road "missed" for more than 2 years

(Baonghean) - More than 2 years have passed since the expected completion date, but the road from Mau Duc commune to Thach Ngan commune, Con Cuong district, over 10 km long, is still unfinished, much to the anticipation of local people.

This route is designed according to the standards of grade VI mountainous roads (TCVN 4054-2005), the roadbed is 6m wide, the road surface is 3.5m wide, the total length of the route is 10.5km. The total investment of this project is nearly 53 billion VND. The approved construction progress is 18 months, starting on November 14, 2011 and ending on May 14, 2013.

Up to now, the construction unit has only completed 2.1 km of the Thach Ngan commune and handed it over for use. In Mau Duc commune, only 11/17 culvert locations have been completed; the remaining volume is 6 culvert locations, roadbed, road surface foundation and traffic safety have not been implemented.

The inter-commune road Mau Duc - Thach Ngan passes through many mountainous areas so it plays a vital role in the lives of local people.

In many places, the old dirt road has deteriorated, making travel very difficult, while the new road construction is behind schedule. Photo taken at Ke Me village, Mau Duc commune, Con Cuong on the morning of October 16, 2015.

Meanwhile, the old dirt road has deteriorated, making travel and trade difficult for people in Mau Duc and Thach Ngan communes, especially during the rainy season. Many locations on the road are muddy and seriously slippery.

Mr. Lang Van Nam's family in Ke Me village, Mau Duc commune has 2 hectares of acacia and more than 1 hectare of cassava, but every harvest season they struggle with the problem of transportation due to the degraded roads. "Transporting agricultural and forestry products is difficult, so the investment cost increases, significantly affecting income. In addition to affecting business, students in these villages also face many difficulties when going to school," said Mr. Nam.

Mr. Lo Van That, Chairman of Mau Duc Commune People's Committee, said: "Voters have proposed to speed up the construction progress many times, but the commune's only solution is to mobilize internal resources and ask for support from the district to temporarily fix the degraded sections. Every year, the commune has to repair the road on average 2-3 times."

Faced with this situation, communes had to mobilize people to collect sand and gravel to reinforce degraded sections to serve people's travel during the rainy season. Photo taken at Ke Trang village, Mau Duc commune on the morning of October 16, 2015.

Mr. Ngan Xuan Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thach Ngan Commune, said: "Every time commune officials go to the center of Con Cuong district for a meeting, they have to go back to Anh Son and then follow National Highway 7 to Con Cuong town. Besides, the prices of agricultural products sold are also being squeezed by traders. Hopefully, this route will soon be restarted and completed to create more convenient conditions for people to travel."

Currently, the biggest difficulty is that the investment capital demand for the project is too large, but the annual investment budget capital is too low, and there is no allocation of land clearance capital, leading to slow progress. Up to now, the total capital allocated and paid for the project is only over 14.8 billion VND out of the total investment of nearly 53 billion VND.

People of Mau Duc commune, Con Cuong focus on reinforcing the roadbed

People of Mau Duc commune clear the drainage to avoid flooding the road during the rainy season.

People of Mau Duc commune also cleared drainage ditches on both sides of the road.

Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, Head of the Management Board of Construction Investment Projects of Con Cuong District, said: The project was implemented on the basis of the province's excess revenue. In recent years, the excess revenue has ceased, so the project has not been allocated capital since 2012. The project has not been included in the annual concentrated capital allocation of the provincial budget by the Provincial People's Committee.

"Faced with the above situation, Con Cuong district proposed that the Provincial People's Committee include it in the priority list of the 2015-2020 medium-term public investment plan according to the provincial budget for basic construction, which is concentrated and allocated annually to have a basis for continuing to implement the project," said Mr. Tuan.

Nhat Le