Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh: Complete the Eastern North-South Expressway in 2025

On the morning of December 11, at the headquarters of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, Comrade Le Van Thanh - Deputy Prime Minister chaired an online conference with 13 provinces and cities on the implementation of the North-South Expressway Construction Investment Project in the Eastern region in the 2017-2020 period.

Attending the conference, at Nghe An bridge point, there were comrades: Nguyen Van The - Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Transport; Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho; Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc; Deputy Minister of Construction Le Quang Hung.On the side of Nghe An province, there were comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; representatives of departments, branches and contractors attending.

Overview of the meeting at the main bridge - Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Headquarters. Photo: Pham Bang

PROGRESS IS SLOWER THAN PLAN

The project to build a number of expressway sections on the North-South Eastern route in the 2017-2020 period includes 11 component projects, including 8 public investment projects and 3 projects invested under the public-private partnership model. According to the schedule, most of the projects in phase 1 are expected to be completed within 2 years (2022-2023). To date, all 11/11 component projects have started construction; the completed volume from October 20, 2021 to present is about VND 2,845.58 billion, equivalent to 4.7%.

Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho reported on the project's progress and difficulties and problems. Photo: Pham Bang

Site clearance work for component projects began in June 2019 and has now been basically completed. Following the Deputy Prime Minister's direction, localities have actively implemented the remaining work of site clearance. The completed work volume is 652.395 km/652.86 km of land, the remaining work volume is not much.

Implementing Resolution No. 60 and 133 of the Government, localities have granted new licenses to 16 mines with reserves of about 17 million m3.³, increasing the exploitation capacity of 32 mines with a total capacity increased by about 14 million m³/year.

Representative of Son Hai Group reports on difficulties and problems during construction. Photo: Pham Bang

Regarding disbursement, disbursement for site clearance work to date has reached 12,664.06/15,044.98 billion VND, equivalent to 84.2%; from the beginning of 2021 to date, disbursement has reached 70.3%. Disbursement for construction, consulting, project management and other costs accumulated to date has reached 17,476.09/54,236.65 billion VND, equivalent to 32.22%.

The project's progress has been slower than planned, mainly due to difficulties in the supply of earthworks materials in the initial stages of project implementation, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the rainy weather in recent months, and the contractor's lack of initiative in resolving difficulties and obstacles to carry out construction.

At the conference, representatives of localities and contractors participating in the construction of the projects reported on the progress of the projects and the difficulties and obstacles in the implementation process. The biggest obstacle at present is that many contractors do not have enough supply of earth materials to implement the projects on schedule.

Comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee spoke at the Conference. Photo: Pham Bang

Speaking at the Conference, Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nghia Hieu said that the project's site clearance work through Nghe An province is basically completed, only a short section is being mobilized for people's consent, otherwise, construction protection will be organized to hand over the site to the contractor. Regarding the land mine, Nghe An province has issued 19 licenses with a reserve of 29.25 million m³.

SPEED UP, DON'T SPREAD OUT

Concluding the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh affirmed that this is a national key project, playing a very important role in socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security, and serving people's lives. He is determined to complete the entire North-South expressway in the East by 2025.

In the recent period, ministries, branches, localities and contractors have been active, focused and made efforts to achieve the above results. However, in the implementation process, there are still many difficulties and obstacles.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh concluded at the Conference. Photo: Pham Bang

The Deputy Prime Minister requested that investment resources must be concentrated to complete the project soon, ensuring progress, quality, efficiency, transparency, compliance with legal regulations, and completing the project as it is done, without spreading it out. Ministries, branches, and localities must enhance their roles and responsibilities, and must not delay the completion progress.

"Localities must shorten the time for processing licensing procedures and exploiting minerals for common construction materials, ensuring adequate supply of materials for construction in accordance with the Government's direction in Resolution 60/NQ-CP and Resolution 133/NQ-CP," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Previously, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh directly inspected the construction progress of the North-South Expressway Investment Project in the East, phase 2017-2020, the section passing through Nghe An province. Photo: Pham Bang

Regarding the progress of each item, the Deputy Prime Minister requested construction units to closely coordinate with project management boards to develop specific construction plans to ensure that projects must be completed in 2022, and that any projects that are behind schedule must make up for the delay. Contractors will organize construction in 3 shifts, encourage progress ahead of schedule, and reward and penalize contractors who implement projects quickly and slowly.

Emphasizing the importance of project quality, the Deputy Prime Minister requested that project management boards and contractors try to complete the required documents, have a professional technical team, and absolutely not let there be any shortage in quantity and quality. For project management boards, they must be determined, and those who cannot do it should stand aside.

Contractors are constructing the roadbed of the Nghi Son - Dien Chau project. Photo: Pham Bang

Regarding phase 2 of the North-South Expressway Project in the East, the Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Transport to proactively implement it immediately, especially the issue of material quarries, so as not to be passive and stuck like in phase 1. Contractors should increase investment in modern equipment and machinery, and innovate construction technology to be able to speed up construction progress when winning the bid.

Previously, on the afternoon of November 10, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh directly inspected the construction progress of the North-South Expressway Project through Nghe An province. The Deputy Prime Minister highly appreciated the efforts of Nghe An province in site clearance, removing obstacles in material sources; and the efforts of the construction contractor to ensure the project progress as planned./.