Vinh City: Many projects are behind schedule

(Baonghean) - In Vinh City, there are many projects being invested and constructed. Besides the completed projects that have been effective, there are still many projects that are behind schedule, or even not implemented after being allocated land, causing waste of land funds, affecting the lives, production and activities of the people.

Decades ago, the people of Hoa Lam hamlet, Hung Hoa commune, Vinh city were very happy when the project to urgently relocate people from the disaster area for the people of Hoa Lam hamlet was approved. The project has a total investment of more than 36.6 billion VND, invested by Nghe An Rural Development Department, with the goal of building resettlement areas to relocate the people of Hoa Lam hamlet out of the area that is often threatened by natural disasters and storms.

However, many years have passed, the project is still on paper. And 78 households with nearly 250 people always live in a state of anxiety and worry when facing many dangers of being swept away by water every time there is a flood. Mr. Dau Van Lap - Hoa Lam hamlet, shared: "We always live in a state of anxiety, especially when there is a flood. The water flows a lot, the houses are dilapidated because we do not dare to renovate because the project is in effect. The land in the hamlet is increasingly crumbling, threatening the lives of the people...".

Provincial leaders inspect the progress of the Vinh Urban Development Sub-project. Photo: Nguyen Son

The project to upgrade and expand Le Ninh Street was approved by the Provincial People's Committee in 2002 in Decision No. 2795 with a total length of 3,000m and a construction boundary of 41m. According to the plan, the project will be completed after 18 months of construction. However, decades have passed, and the project is still unfinished, and construction has been suspended due to land acquisition problems.

The entire route was divided into many sections, overgrown with weeds, and both sides of the road became spontaneous garbage dumps, causing loss of urban beauty. This meant a waste of invested capital that had not been fully exploited. Meanwhile, people living in the project area always had to face many difficulties, their houses were in disrepair and they did not dare to repair them.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Loc - Block 7, Quan Bau Ward, Vinh City said: "My family has many generations living in a small, dilapidated apartment. When the project was implemented, our children were young, but now they are married and have two children. The project has been prolonged, affecting the family's life because the house is so dilapidated that we dare not expand or repair it. I hope the project will be implemented soon so that we can stabilize our lives."

The main reason for the slow progress and difficulty in implementing projects is that the site clearance work has not met the requirements. Some projects have been implemented but have not completed site clearance, and some projects in progress have had to be temporarily suspended due to site clearance problems.

Mr. Tran Xuan Le - Director of Vinh City Investment and Construction Project Management Board said: Due to many reasons, currently the projects managed by Vinh City Investment and Construction Project Management Board are behind schedule such as the Le Ninh Street Upgrade and Expansion Project; Le Mao Street Extension Project Phase 2, Ly Thuong Kiet Street Construction Project... Currently, the city is focusing on removing difficulties and obstacles to soon continue construction.

In Vinh City, there are currently dozens of projects in various fields that are behind schedule, even many projects have been handed over land for decades but have not yet been implemented. On December 10, 2014, the Provincial People's Committee issued Notice No. 679 on allowing extensions for 24 projects that have been allocated land, leased land within a period of 24 months to proceed with construction. However, up to now, the extension period according to Notice 679 has passed but most of the projects are still just empty plots of land.

Faced with the above situation, the Provincial People's Committee has directed the City People's Committee to inspect and review slow-progressing projects to propose solutions. At the same time, it has designated to reclaim projects that investors have "held" land for too long but have not implemented. In fact, in recent years, many slow-progressing projects due to weak investment capacity of enterprises have been reclaimed to transfer to stronger units.

Site clearance work for the Vinh urban development sub-project components has been accelerated but is still slower than required. Photo: Nguyen Son

For example, the project to renovate and build the A Quang Trung apartment building was previously invested by Nghe An Petroleum Construction Joint Stock Company. However, due to the lack of capacity to implement the project, the project was delayed for many years. At the end of 2014, the Provincial People's Committee revoked the project and transferred it to Quang Trung Petroleum Urban Investment Joint Stock Company as the investor. After a short period of construction, the two buildings CT2A and CT2B were nearly completed and expected to be put into use on May 19, 2017, 4 months ahead of schedule.

Mr. Ha Thanh Tinh - Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee said: In the face of the current situation of projects behind schedule, projects not implemented, the city is focusing on reviewing and reporting back to the Provincial People's Committee to take measures to recover in the coming time. At the same time, the city is promoting site clearance work, in the current conditions, only public investment projects with capital and plans to start construction will the city carry out site clearance to avoid the situation of unfinished and ineffective implementation.

Along with the above solutions, the city and provincial governments need to be more determined in handling unfeasible projects. Because when the sanctions on state management of projects are not strong enough and lack determination, the projects still "lie dormant" in the frustration of many people. That not only affects people's lives but also causes heavy damage to the State budget.

Vo Huyen