Minister of Transport urges progress of North-South Expressway Project through Nghe An

On the afternoon of April 14, comrade Nguyen Van Thang - Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Transport and the working delegation inspected and urged the progress of the North-South Expressway Project through Nghe An province.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang inspects the progress of the Nghi Son - Dien Chau section project. Photo: Pham Bang

The North-South Expressway project through Nghe An province is about 87.84km long, belonging to the Nghi Son - Dien Chau sub-project and the Dien Chau - Bai Vot sub-project. The project passes through Hoang Mai town and 5 districts: Quynh Luu, Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc and Hung Nguyen.

Given the importance of the project, the Provincial Party Committee and People's Committee of Nghe An province have directed departments, branches, sectors and localities to mobilize the entire political system to take drastic action, focusing on prioritizing compensation, support and resettlement. To date, localities have cleared 87.84/87.84km, reaching 100%.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang traveled along the Nghi Son - Dien Chau Sub-project route, inspecting two locations: Dien Doai overpass (package XL03); Dien Dong bridge (package XL04).

Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy talks with Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang at the scene. Photo: Pham Bang

Reporting to the Minister, the investor said that the Nghi Son - Dien Chau sub-project has a length of 50km with a total investment of more than 7,293 billion VND. The project is divided into 4 construction packages, expected to be completed by July 2023, to date the value of implemented output has reached 73%, the capital disbursement rate has reached 68%.

However, there are still problems in the scope of the approach roads to 3 overpasses (QL48D overpass, Dien Doai overpass, Do Thanh overpass) and some residential roads including: 1 household in Dien Yen commune, 14 households in Dien Doai commune; 1 D800 water pipeline; 1 high-voltage power line location (Yen Thanh) and some agricultural land areas with local problems.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung said that for a household in Dien Yen commune (Dien Chau) whose land has not been handed over, the district is continuing to propagate and mobilize. If there is no agreement, in April 2023, construction protection will be organized according to regulations.

For 14 households in Dien Doai commune (Dien Chau), the district will continue to organize propaganda and mobilization. In case of disagreement, it will organize construction protection in April 2023 to ensure project progress.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung reports on site clearance work. Photo: Pham Bang

After listening to the reports of the locality, the investor, and the contractor, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang assessed that for the Nghi Son - Dien Chau sub-project, the foundation has been basically completed, and the site clearance has also been basically completed, while this is the most difficult part. Therefore, the contractor needs to take advantage of favorable weather, be more determined and proactive, and focus on means and human resources to speed up the construction progress and increase the capital disbursement rate.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang directly inspected the Dien Dong bridge location (package XL04). Photo: Pham Bang

Minister Nguyen Van Thang asked the contractor to speed up the project's construction progress. Photo: Pham Bang

Minister Nguyen Van Thang also said that the project's progress cannot be stopped, so he requested the province to be resolute in clearing local areas, following the road, and must speed up the progress to complete the project. For the Nghi Son - Dien Chau sub-project, the technical part must be completed in July 2023 and the inauguration will be held in September 2023.

Next, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang traveled along the Dien Chau - Bai Vot Sub-project section, to directly inspect the 46B - Km460 Intersection in Hung Tay Commune (Hung Nguyen).

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang came to inspect the progress of the Dien Chau - Bai Vot sub-project. Photo: Pham Bang

The Dien Chau - Bai Vot sub-project has a route length of 49.3 km with a total investment of VND 13,338 billion. The project started on May 22, 2021 and is expected to be completed in May 2024. To date, the output value of contractors has reached 33.2% of the contract value, 1.5% behind the third adjusted schedule, of which the XL-04 package has only reached 12%.

According to investors and contractors, the reason for the project's delay is that investor Vina2 has financial difficulties, has to change contractors, disbursement procedures are slow, materials are lacking, and acceptance is slow.

In addition, objective reasons required adjusting the technical design of Xuan Duong 2 Bridge, slowing down the progress of the XL04 package. However, the project enterprise committed to the Minister to complete the project on schedule.

Construction progress of the Dien Chau - Bai Vot project is behind schedule compared to the contract. Photo: Pham Bang

Regarding land clearance, there are currently 2 households in Hung Dao commune (Hung Nguyen) that have not received money and have not handed over the land. Hung Nguyen District People's Committee is continuing to propagate, mobilize and dialogue, in case of disagreement, the land will be forcibly recovered. For some local problems, the District People's Committee is currently completing the documents for approval and payment.

The Minister of Transport requested the project enterprise to resolutely direct contractors to actively implement construction to make up for slow progress. Photo: Pham Bang

Regarding the relocation of technical infrastructure works affected by the project, the province is requesting localities to direct contractors to concentrate machinery and equipment, speed up the relocation progress, not affect the project construction progress, and complete in April 2023.

After listening to reports from localities, investors, and contractors, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang assessed that for BOT projects on the Eastern North-South Expressway section in the 2017-2022 period, the state has created favorable conditions in terms of capital, investors and banks do not have to bear any risks, so saying there is a lack of capital is incorrect.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang presents gifts to project implementing units. Photo: Pham Bang

Assessing that the Dien Chau - Bai Vot sub-project is behind schedule compared to the contract, the Minister of Transport requested the project enterprise to resolutely direct contractors to actively implement construction to compensate for the slow progress. In locations where the government has handed over the land, contractors must quickly construct to clear the entire route.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang also requested Nghe An province to pay attention to increasing the exploitation capacity of sand mines supplying the project according to the Government's resolutions, meeting the requirements of contractors. Contractors should coordinate with the supervision consultant and investors to speed up the progress of payment acceptance, ensuring the timely circulation of capital for the project./.

Pham Bang