Fed up with the scene of 'telecommunications filling up, water supply digging up' on Vinh city sidewalks

Sidewalk cluttered…

Recently, in Vinh City, sidewalks on Tran Hung Dao, Truong Chinh, Minh Khai, Dang Thai Than streets, the south side of the North Canal on Nguyen Sy Sach Street, etc. were dug up, causing other items to be affected and displaced.

On Nguyen Duy Trinh Street, from Hung Dung Ward People's Committee to Nguyen Viet Xuan intersection, after many years of deterioration, the road surface was just paved with asphalt in 2018, with a width of 2 lanes of nearly 7m of asphalt. However, from the end of 2021, the implementation offlood control project, because the road is narrow and there is no sidewalk, some sections, from 0.8-1.2 m along the asphalt road, were dug to place drainage ditches. After nearly 5 months of construction, the ditch is almost completed but the scene above the sidewalk is still messy.

After the drainage system was installed on the sidewalk of Nguyen Duy Trinh Street, the construction unit left it for more than 2 months, forcing people to level it themselves to move around and do business. On sunny summer days, they have to water it constantly because sand and dust fly into their houses. Photo: PV

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Huy - a resident at 60 Nguyen Duy Trinh Street, said: After installing the sewer, the contractor only temporarily filled it and left it like that for several months now, making all activities of the residents very inconvenient. When summer comes, we have to water it every day to prevent sand and dust from flying into the house.

In addition to the above point, at the end of Nguyen Duy Trinh Street adjacent to Nguyen Viet Xuan Street, because the road surface was cut off by 1/3 to install a drainage culvert and after the culvert was installed, the construction unit only temporarily poured sand, vehicles could not pass, so during rush hour, this intersection is often congested.

At Minh Khai street, there are currently some sectionssidewalkThe ditch has been installed but the site has been restored rather hastily, with some sections of materials being gathered in a rather messy manner. A representative of an agency located on this route said: The sidewalk has been requisitioned for the construction of the anti-flood ditch for more than 2 months. Although the construction is carried out in a rolling manner, the progress is very slow and the leveling and restoration of the site after construction has not been given due attention. If not done carefully, when it rains, the sand and soil will flow through the cracks into the ditch, causing subsidence and landslides, which is very dangerous for people and vehicles.

The adjacent sidewalk and Tran Hung Dao street intersecting with Pham Ngu Lao street in Doi Cung ward are slow to be restored after construction and upgrading of the drainage ditch. Photo taken on April 28, 2022. Reporter Nguyen Hai

Since the beginning of April, the sidewalk running along the North Canal from Nguyen Sy Sach Street to Hung Loc Lake has been dug up again. It is worth mentioning that this project is an ODA project, along with the loan capital, the city invested hundreds of billions of VND to upgrade the technical infrastructure of the sidewalk and also have rows of green rosewood trees to create aurban highlightHowever, recently, the sidewalk south of the North Canal has been mercilessly dug up by a telecommunications cable installation project.

The sidewalk south of the North Canal running parallel to Nguyen Si Sach Street down to Hung Loc Lake is being dug up to install underground cables. Photo: PV

Observing the scene, we found that although the construction unit tried to limit the impact on the trees and technical infrastructure of the canal, in reality, it was still affected. Some sections of the concrete sidewalk with sturdy iron railings were excavated and peeled off by the excavator. A resident in Tan Loc hamlet, Hung Loc commune said sadly: A large-scale sidewalk excavation project like this must have been licensed by the competent authority, but the canal project was just completed and the site was clean not long ago, now it is a mess, what a pity. People are waiting to see how the unit will restore the site.

Learning more, we learned that not only the sidewalks of the above streets but also some residential projects in Nghi Phu or Nghi Kim communes, due to the lack of synchronous investment in technical infrastructure, are constantly being dug up. A resident at the Dong Canh Phuong residential project in Hamlet 9, Nghi Phu commune reported: I have just started building a house for a few years, but after a few years, I saw the sidewalk in front of my house being dug up. The telecommunications unit had just completed the construction, and had not filled it yet, but when the water supply came, they dug it up again. It is really incomprehensible!

The newly paved sidewalk on Minh Khai Street is quite good for pedestrians, but after being given over to the construction of a drainage ditch, it has been in a dilapidated state for two months. Photo: PV

Strengthen supervision, limit sidewalk digging and road cutting

According to urban managers, the underlying cause of the above situation is due to planning and investment.Vinh City Urban Infrastructurenot synchronized. Therefore, the management unit of traffic roads and sidewalks has resources, so it only cares about building roads and sidewalks; when the roads are finished, telecommunications and drainage will have resources to deploy, so it is forced to ask for permission to dig and cut... This is a common situation in urban areas of our country and Vinh City in the process of upgrading and beautifying, so it is no exception. In fact, a few years ago, when the situation of digging sidewalks and cutting roads increased, based on the reflection of public opinion in the press, the Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee issued a strict directive prohibiting and only in necessary cases approved by the Chairman of the City People's Committee can digging sidewalks and cutting roads; when the construction is completed, the ground must be restored to its original state.

Unfinished telecommunication cable construction on the sidewalk in residential area of ​​hamlet 9, Nghi Phu commune, Vinh city. According to residents, the sidewalk and roadway in this area are constantly being dug up. After the telecommunication cable is completed, water pipes are planned to be installed in this area. Photo: NH

For this reason, a few years ago, representatives of some wards and communes proposed that the city allow the People's Committees of the local wards and communes to participate in the acceptance and supervision of the return of the site after construction. Only if it is guaranteed will the deposit be returned.

On Nguyen Duy Trinh Street, when asked why the drainage ditch was not restored to its original state soon after installation, a representative of Hung Dung Ward People's Committee said that after completion, the road project was handed over to the ward for management, but due to lack of funds for compensation and clearance, the drainage ditch had to be cut into the roadway when constructing it. As for the drainage ditch investment project, the ward is not the investor, so it is not known when it will be completed...

Thanks to the constant urging and reminders from the Vinh Urban Order Management Team, a contractor on Truong Chinh Street is reinstalling the sidewalk. Photo: NH taken on April 28, 2022

It is known that, by practicing the Law on practicing thrift and combating waste, each unit and department can only save a few billion VND to less than 10 billion VND each year, and the whole province can only save tens of billions of VND each year, so saving and combating waste from public investment projects and limiting sidewalk digging is worth considering and thinking about.

According to experts, if installation only takes 1 labor, then digging and destroying takes 1.5-2 labors, so it is very costly and wasteful. Therefore, in the coming time, Vinh City in particular and other districts and towns in general need to review and implement infrastructure projects synchronously, limiting the situation where investors in telecommunications infrastructure have just finished, then the water supply or drainage unit digs up the sidewalk, leading to waste of state and business money and affecting the life of the project and sidewalk in general.

In addition, it is necessary to study the mechanism for monitoring and managing the deposit for returning the construction site, including the supervisory role of local authorities; any unit that constructs or returns the site without ensuring the deposit will have the deposit deducted to hire an urban construction unit to carry out the work; if there is a violation, it will be strictly punished according to regulations.

Construction of drainage ditches on Ho Tung Mau Street to beautify the Walking Street. According to residents, if all streets were invested in synchronously like Ho Tung Mau Street, the situation of digging up sidewalks and cutting the roadway would be limited. Photo by Nguyen Hai