Vinh - Cua Lo Boulevard: Progress delayed with... promises!
(Baonghean) - Many timelines have been set by the provincial People's Committee leaders for the technical traffic opening plan of Vinh - Cua Lo Avenue, but after many extensions, this route has not been completed on schedule.
Difficulties in land clearance
The Vinh - Cua Lo connecting route (phase 1) is nearly 11 km long, passing through Vinh City (3.4 km), Nghi Loc (4.8 km) and Cua Lo Town (2.632 km); the total investment of the project is 1,411 billion VND. The capital plan announced so far for the project is 981 billion VND, of which more than 934 billion VND has been disbursed.
At the scene, the Department of Transport is directing contractors to focus on implementing construction of sections with available land (8.6 km), coordinating with localities to clear remaining sections to promptly hand over the land before January 15, 2019. According to the investor, the construction progress of the contractors is basically guaranteed according to the plan for the sections with handed over land, ensuring quality.
 |
| Perspective of planning project Vinh - Cua Lo avenue. |
However, the most difficult part is the section through Vinh city. According to the Department of Transport, 8.5 km/8.6 km of the roadbed has been cleared; 8.6 km of the 9m strip has been cleared, Cua Lo and Nghi Loc towns have completed the handover; the remaining 2.2 km concentrated in Vinh city have not been cleared yet.
The representative of the Project Management Board said that if the province's plan is followed, the entire 10.83 km of the Vinh - Cua Lo road project will be open by the end of 2018. However, in 2019, only 8.6 km passing through Cua Lo town and Nghi Loc district will be paved with the first layer of asphalt concrete. The 2.2 km passing through Vinh city has not yet been completely cleared.
With the same mechanism and policy, why do affected households that must be cleared in Cua Lo town and Nghi Loc district agree to hand over the site to the province to build key traffic works; while for households in Nghi Phu and Nghi Duc communes (Vinh city), this matter is still prolonged without clearance?Is it possible that, in addition to the unreasonable demand for compensation prices exceeding the framework, there are other reasons that lead to people being slow in handing over the site to the construction unit?
 |
| Xuan Dong resettlement area, Nghi Duc, is expected to resettle 200 households, but after a long time of implementation, it is still not completed. Photo: Thu Huyen |
It is known that in all the meetings on site clearance, most of the opinions revolved around the issue of compensation and resettlement prices. Mr. Nguyen Van Toan - Vice Chairman of Nghi Phu Commune People's Committee, Vinh City said: Up to now, there have been many plans to implement site clearance, but the most difficult problem here is resettlement land. Without resettlement land, site clearance cannot be done. For example, the resettlement areas of hamlets 5 and 21, Nghi Phu Commune have been planned to accommodate affected households for many years, but up to now, the infrastructure here has not been built by Vinh City.
Vinh City has not yet taken drastic action.
According to the assessment, currently in Vinh City, there are many projects being implemented, so the land acquisition work for the above project has not been focused on; the Land Fund Development Center has not been actively involved, and has not prioritized time for the project. The coordination between relevant departments of Vinh City People's Committee is not close.
The work of reviewing the number of households and resettlement lots to adjust the subdivision planning, approve land prices and allocate resettlement land to households is slow and does not meet the requirements. Confirming the origin of land, balancing the area, determining the population, and the recovery rate by Nghi Phu Commune People's Committee is still slow.
 |
| The resettlement area in Hamlet 5, Nghi Phu (Vinh City) is still a farming land. Photo: Thu Huyen |
Regarding the inventory of agricultural land in Nghi Phu commune, due to the lack of cooperation of the people, forced inventory had to be carried out, leading to a delay in implementation. The progress in handling problems under the authority of Vinh City People's Committee is still slow (guiding people in dividing inheritance, adjusting cadastral map extracts, adding plots with missing land prices, resolving disputes between households...) has not been paid attention to by the City People's Committee, and the implementation process is slow.
According to Mr. Nguyen Huu An - Deputy Director of the Department of Transport, "For the Vinh city section, if the site is available soon, the Department of Transport will focus on directing within 5 months and will open to traffic and complete the first layer of the section."
 |
| Checking and comparing the actual implementation status of the Vinh - Cua Lo project. Photo: Thu Huyen |
Recently, at a meeting with departments, branches and localities to speed up the progress of the Vinh - Cua Lo route, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Huynh Thanh Dien emphasized: If Vinh city does not change its way of doing things and is not determined, the progress will continue to be worrying. The key task in the coming time is for the City People's Committee to organize propaganda and mobilize households to receive compensation money to hand over the site for the project. For households affected within a 9m radius, it is recommended to apply a financial support plan to build temporary houses and hand over the site as soon as Nghi Loc district has done.
In addition, speed up the construction progress of resettlement areas, ensuring completion according to the requirements. Focus on handling difficulties to promptly hand over the site for construction of Nghi Phu Primary School and the section through Nghi Duc commune... The Department of Transport reviews connection points, signs, planting markers... for completed sections to ensure traffic safety. The Departments of Construction, Natural Resources and Environment, Finance, Planning and Investment promptly remove difficulties and obstacles according to the functions and tasks of the industry.
 |
| The end point of the project at the intersection of Binh Minh and Cua Lo roads has been basically completed. Photo: Thu Huyen |
When will Vinh City remove the "bottleneck" of site clearance for the new project so that the road can be completed and put into use soon? According to Mr. Ha Thanh Tinh - Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee, the city has issued a plan, the section through Nghi Duc commune must be completed by April 30, 2019, and the Nghi Phu section must be completely open by June 30, 2019.
However, this may still be just a promise if the city does not resolutely take action to speed up the progress of site clearance for the project. Because in previous inspections, working sessions, and urgings of provincial leaders related to the progress of the Vinh - Cua Lo road project, they all received promises from the leaders of Vinh City People's Committee about the time to clear and hand over the site to the investor. However, the progress according to the promises has been "stretched".