Slow progress on National Highway 7: Danger lurks, risk of waste
The National Highway 7 upgrade project is expected to be completed in 2024. However, the project is currently behind schedule due to land acquisition issues, causing many difficulties for traffic participants.
Accident lurking
On National Highway 7, passing through My Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District, it can be seen that many sections of the road have not been constructed due to land clearance problems. The road surface is seriously degraded with a series of potholes, potholes, and peeling, making travel difficult. In the rainy season, the road surface becomes muddy and slippery, and in the dry season, it is covered with dust, greatly affecting people's lives.
Mr. Tran Minh Chien, a resident of Hoa Son commune, Do Luong district, shared: "Vehicles have difficulty traveling on the unfinished road, and there have been a number of accidents due to potholes. We hope the project will be implemented more quickly to ensure the safety of people and vehicles participating in traffic."
In addition, due to the severe deterioration of the road, many vehicles traveling on National Highway 7 are forced to avoid this section. From My Thanh commune (Yen Thanh), to reach Do Luong town, one must go through Thuong Son and Thai Son communes (7-8 km further), increasing fuel costs and extending travel time.
In particular, the section from the intersection of National Highway 7 with the expressway to National Highway 1 passing through Dien Cat commune is seriously degraded.
In addition, according to observations on National Highway 7, some sections have not been cleared synchronously, so construction must be carried out in a piecemeal, patchwork manner, creating dangerous bumps between the new asphalt layer and the old road, posing a potential risk of traffic accidents.
Risk of project stagnation, investment waste
According to information from Project Management Board 4 - the investor, the project is behind schedule mainly due to difficulties in site clearance. Up to now, localities along the route have handed over about 54.093 km/55.405 km (equivalent to 97.64%). However, the remaining part of about 1.309 km has not been handed over, divided into 49 different sections.
Specifically: Dien Chau district has 29 undelivered sections, with a total length of about 0.605 km, located in the communes of Minh Chau, Dien Thanh, Dien Cat, and Dien Phuc. Yen Thanh district has 20 undelivered sections, with a total length of about 0.703 km, located in the communes of Cong Thanh, My Thanh, and Vien Thanh.
The National Highway 7 upgrade project has a total investment of VND1,300 billion, started in September 2022, and is expected to be completed in 2024. To date, only VND581,629/714,785 billion has been disbursed, equivalent to 81.37% of the contract. If the delay in site clearance continues, the risk of the project being completely stalled is very high.
Faced with the above situation, Project Management Board 4 (investor) proposed that the relevant agencies and local authorities should take stronger measures to remove obstacles in land clearance. It is necessary to strengthen propaganda and mobilize people to comply with compensation, support and resettlement policies in accordance with regulations, creating consensus for quick handover of land.
Speed up the counting, compiling compensation records and completing necessary legal procedures to enforce construction with households that refuse to hand over the land. Arrange reasonable capital sources to promptly pay compensation, ensure people's rights and avoid prolonged complaints.
Mr. Hoang Van Chau - Deputy Manager of Project Management Board 4 said: "If the site clearance issue is not resolved soon, the project is at risk of having its capital cut and being handed over to local authorities for management. This will affect traffic safety, environmental sanitation and will not achieve the project's objectives, which means that the investment capital will be wasted."