Removing obstacles in site clearance for the North-South Expressway section through Nghe An

On the morning of October 5, the Provincial People's Committee held a meeting to listen to and give opinions on the site clearance for the North-South Expressway section passing through the province. Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh chaired. Attending were representatives of the leaders of the Transport Project Management Board 6, Ministry of Transport; representatives of relevant departments, branches and localities.

Comrade Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the meeting. Photo: Hoai Thu

Implementation status

The North-South Expressway project through Nghe An province is about 87.84 km long, belonging to the Nghi Son - Dien Chau sub-project and the Dien Chau - Bai Vot sub-project, passing through Hoang Mai town and the districts of Quynh Luu, Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc andHung Nguyen. The capital allocated for the project is 1,891.5 billion VND. Of which, more than 74% has been disbursed with a length of 77.61 km.

According to the schedule, the site must be handed over to the construction unit by the end of December. However, according to the assessment and reports of localities and departments, the construction of resettlement areas, the review and inventory work for compensation of households with residential land and garden land not in the resettlement area is still slow. The relocation of high-voltage power lines is slow in both progress and disbursement, and many places have not yet completed the initial procedures.

In addition, the relocation of graves has not met the requirements, only 73/645 graves have been relocated. There are still more than 2 km of agricultural land with small problems that have not been resolved and need to be accelerated. Therefore, the meeting assessed that the completion of site clearance by October 30, 2020 is very difficult to achieve if the progress is not accelerated.

Specifically, for the 220kv high-voltage power line, there are 13 locations that are being submitted for investment project appraisal, including 4 locations in Quynh Luu, 7 locations in Dien Chau, and 2 locations in Hung Nguyen. The 110kv high-voltage power line has 10 locations, of which 1 location has been relocated (Yen Thanh); the remaining locations are being submitted for appraisal by higher authorities. The medium-voltage and low-voltage power lines have 114 locations, of which 31 locations are being relocated; 40 locations have selected contractors but are waiting for adjustment, and the remaining locations are in the process of completing procedures.

Compensation and site clearance progress chart for the North-South Expressway project through Nghe An. Engineering: Ton Duc

For VNPT's telecommunication cable system that needs to be relocated, the assessment has been completed in Hoang Mai.Dien Chau, Hung Nguyen, For Viettel cable in Hoang Mai, Quynh Luu is being readjusted, while other districts are in the reporting stage. The entire route has 645 graves that need to be relocated, however, so far onlyrelocate73 houses were affected. In addition, some railway signal lines and clean water pipes were also affected and relevant parties are completing procedures for relocation.

The North-South Expressway section through Nghe An has a length of 87.84 km. Land has been cleared: 77.61 km (88.35%). Of which, agricultural land: 77.15/79.31 km (97.3%). Residential land, garden land: 0.46/3.47 km (13.3%). Resettlement land: 5.06 km has not been cleared (0%).

Proposal to remove obstacles

At the meeting, the localities proposed to resolve the problem by focusing on the appraisal of land origin and adjusting compensation land prices. In addition, the appraisal and estimation of the relocation of power lines also encountered problems when the actual inspection revealed that the number of lines was much larger than the original.

Mr. Phan Thanh Ha - Vice Chairman of Yen Thanh District People's Committee stated that in Yen Thanh area, there are still problems with land acquisition and clearance for some agricultural land, commercial land, and service land subject to land acquisition and clearance. Specifically, when applying compensation prices according to regulations but people do not agree, the district proposes to apply compensation prices according to residential land prices. Yen Thanh has 6 households who do not agree with the residential land prices in the resettlement area, the district asks for opinions to continue meeting the land acquisition and clearance compensation council to re-evaluate the compensation prices. In addition, there is 1 household opposing the construction of the resettlement area in Yen Thanh, the district is asking for opinions to protect the construction and remove obstacles regarding the origin of the land.

Delegates reflected on problems and recommendations at the meeting. Photo: Hoai Thu

In Quynh Luu district, Mr. Nguyen Van Quy - Vice Chairman of the district People's Committee said that there are still problems with compensation for a household regarding the origin of the land after dividing the plot for their children and relocating some graves. Regarding the compensation for rice land estimated at about 22 billion VND, which is not included in the budget, the district asked the province to give opinions on the source of payment.

Also raising issues regarding land acquisition and clearance, Hung Nguyen district leaders reflected that the compensation price for moving wooden houses was unreasonable and needed to be adjusted. In addition, Hung Nguyen has 40 households that are eligible for land allocation but are not subject to the land acquisition and clearance program.resettlement areaThe district proposed to relocate these 40 households to the resettlement area in the form of people paying for infrastructure construction themselves. In addition, there are 8 households that are not included in the land acquisition and clearance area but are affected during the construction and later operation of the highway, so it is also proposed to relocate these 8 households.

Construction of Hung Trung resettlement area (Hung Nguyen) to serve the clearance of the North-South expressway. Photo courtesy of Tran Chau

In Hoang Mai town, there is still a problem with land acquisition for about 3,400 m2 of Son Trang parish. This area was previously a cemetery that was relocated and planted with trees. Recently, people have built mounds of earth to "recreate" the previous graves to request compensation. In Dien Chau, according to Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee Phan Xuan Vinh, the most difficult problem is still the cost of relocating the power line infrastructure with the Dien Chau - Bai Vot route and the outside direction. "Previously, the estimated cost of relocation was about 90 billion VND, but in fact, after actual counting and appraisal, it was up to 260 billion VND, an increase from 8 electric poles to 15 electric poles that need to be relocated. Specifically, there are 8 poles on the 220kV route located outside the relocation corridor but will be affected by future construction and operation, so the district is asking for opinions to propose the additional relocation of these 8 poles.

Exchange and respond to recommendations,proposeAt the meeting, representatives of the Departments of Industry and Trade, Construction, Natural Resources and Environment as well as representatives of the Transport Project Management Board 6 of the Ministry of Transport explained and guided localities to resolve problems.

Concluding the meeting, comrade Le Hong Vinh highly appreciated the determination of localities in site clearance, emphasizing that this is an important political task, so he requested that departments and localities coordinate better in implementation. In addition, for specialized contents, he requested that departments, branches and localities boldly follow current regulations to resolve, not to push or ask for opinions to prolong the time.

Regarding electricity infrastructure, it is proposed that from now until November 30, an additional 15% must be disbursed. It is recommended that the Ministry of Industry and Trade provide specific guidance on compensation for rice fields that were not previously included in the compensation category. It is recommended that districts propose additional items to restore roads affected during construction to have a repair plan to meet the interests of the people.