Le Ninh Road Project: Site Clearance Blockage, More Than 80 Households Suffer

(Baonghean) -Planned in 1991 and started construction in 2006, Le Ninh Street - the main first-class street of Vinh City - has yet to be opened to traffic. As a result, the appearance of the Northwest urban area of ​​Vinh City is less attractive and more than 80 households in the planning area are suffering...

The residential area of ​​the Rubber Factory, Block 8, Quan Bau Ward (Vinh City) is like a maze of narrow, winding alleys and houses of varying heights. We had to ask around several times before we could reach the house of Block Leader Le Huu Bien. When we learned that someone had come to inquire about the situation of the people living in the planning area, Mr. Bien opened his heart to tell us about his hardships, even though "we have talked about our residential area for a long time."



Le Ninh Street cannot be opened due to lack of funds for compensation and site clearance.

According to Mr. Bien, block 8 has 42 households in the planning area. “People are suffering a lot, uncle! The houses are cramped and dilapidated and cannot be renovated. Every house has to build a tank and buy tap water, not daring to sign a contract with the factory to get water for use. Families with many children cannot split up or expand their households. When in urgent need of money, no bank will accept a loan because the land title is in the planning area. There are even families with preferential policies, who are eligible for financial support to renovate their houses, but their policies are also cut off because their houses are in the planning area…” – Mr. Bien said. Also according to Mr. Bien, residents of block 8 have submitted petitions to all levels, and have reported at meetings of National Assembly and People’s Council delegates to meet voters… Ward, city, and provincial officials all know about the “suspended planning”, know that people are suffering, and have promised to resolve the issue, but the situation has not changed.

With Mr. Bien, we went to Mrs. Tran Thi Yen's house. The house is about 60 square meters wide (home to 3 households, 9 people) is cramped and damp. Mrs. Yen sadly said: "When children grow up, they have to get married. If we don't have money to buy land for our children to build a house, we have to add a corner so they have room...".

Compared to Ms. Yen's family, the family of war invalid Nguyen Dang Han is even more miserable. The house is about 50 square meters wide and is home to 4 households and 13 people. In Mr. Han's house, the tiny living room and the toilet are common areas, the rest are arranged into small "bunkers". Each "bunker" is a resting place for each family's children, but Mr. Han and his wife have more space because the bed is in the kitchen. Mr. Han doesn't talk much about his family because "you can tell by looking", but according to the block leader Le Huu Bien, Mr. Han's family is "suffering" because of housing. Mr. Han is both a war invalid and a sick soldier, and both Mr. Han and his wife have had cancer for quite a long time. Mr. Bien said that Mr. Han's children have gotten married, had children, and all live with their parents, and on top of that, they have to pay for medicine to treat cancer, so their situation is very difficult. Faced with that situation, the block proposed to the ward to support the cost of repairing Mr. Han's house. The ward approved it, but when officials were sent to inspect, it was cut off because it was located in a planning area, and even with support, the house could not be repaired...

It is known that Le Ninh Street was planned since 1991; on October 16, 2002, the Provincial People's Committee approved the investment project in Decision No. 3795. Accordingly, the street is 2,957m long, with a planning boundary of 41m (roadway 22.5m, median strip 2m, sidewalks on both sides 16.5m, standard is a grade 1 main street). The starting point joins Phan Boi Chau Street, Truong Chinh Street to form a three-way intersection in front of Vinh Station. The end point of the street joins National Highway 1A (North - South), National Highway 46 (Vinh - Cua Lo), Dang Thai Mai Street (road to Bac Vinh Industrial Park) to form a large five-way intersection at Quan Banh intersection.

In 2006, the Le Ninh road investment project began. According to the investor (Vinh Project Management and Construction Board), after receiving the contract, Hoa Hiep Company Limited started construction of the road with a commitment to complete within 18 months and the work would have been completed on schedule if the site clearance work had not been blocked. "Previously, the blockage in site clearance work was because there was no resettlement land, now that there is resettlement land, there is a lack of compensation funds" - Mr. Nguyen Sy Dieu, Head of Vinh Investment and Construction Project Management Board said. According to Mr. Dieu, the contractor has completed nearly 90% of the work, only a few hundred meters of road left to complete, however, due to the residential areas of blocks 5, 7, 8 of Quan Bau ward, construction has not been able to continue.

On December 24, 2012, the City People's Committee issued Document No. 4936/TTr-UBND on capital allocation to implement compensation and site clearance for the construction of Le Ninh Road, sent to the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments and branches. In particular, the City People's Committee proposed that the Provincial People's Committee use the provincial budget allocated for another road project in the city to transfer to the Le Ninh Road project with a total amount of 15 billion VND...

It is known that, in the current period, finding resources to build infrastructure is extremely difficult. However, authorities at all levels need to urgently consider and resolve the land acquisition work for residential areas of blocks 5, 7, 8, 12, Quan Bau ward with over 80 households so that Le Ninh road can be opened. Because, the Le Ninh road project has been invested with over 56 billion VND (including costs for road construction and resettlement area construction) and has been basically completed. This route plays an important role in the traffic system of Vinh city, contributing to traffic flow and reducing traffic density for National Highway 1A and developing tourism in Cua Lo - Vinh - Kim Lien (Nam Dan), promoting the urbanization process and socio-economic development of the Northwest region of the city. Moreover, it is impossible to let over 80 households suffer forever because they have to live in the planning area...