Why are some key projects slow?

(Baonghean) - Currently, some key projects are behind schedule such as: Nam Dan sluice project, Mong village reservoir, Ca river dike system, Khe Lai - Vuc Mau lake, Nam Vach - Bung river...

The project to upgrade and expand Nam Dan sluice and canal system, phase 1 - building a new Nam Dan sluice was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Decision No. 400/QD/BNN-XD dated February 22, 2010 with a total investment of VND 536,712 billion. After completion, the project will provide irrigation water for 20,000 hectares of downstream areas in 5 districts and cities: Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc, Cua Lo Town, Vinh City.

Water channel system from Nam Dan sluice.

Construction started in April 2010, is a key project, classified as an urgent flood-proof construction project, and was scheduled to be put into use at the end of 2015, but is still not completed.

Mr. Ha Ngoc Lan - Head of the Economic and Infrastructure Development Department (People's Committee of Nam Dan District) said that to serve the project, the district has carried out land clearance, resettlement and handed over almost all the land to the construction units. Currently, the District People's Committee and the investor are looking for land for resettlement of the cemetery on the right bank of the canal and the landfill.

Up to now, the construction unit has achieved over 98% of the allocated capital, completed: the headworks, the pumping station replacing station 1, the mechanical system, the traffic bridge across National Highway 46, and the power lines serving operation and construction.

However, the construction package of the management house and the downstream channel is still unfinished. The construction process has not fully anticipated the difficulties and technical complications, so adjustments have to be made. The site clearance work has created an additional cemetery area in Xuan Hoa commune; the waste disposal site requires 5 hectares of large reserves, so the project is increasing in capital by 120 billion VND. While waiting for the total investment to be approved, the Provincial People's Committee has directed the canal to be cleared first.

Mr. Cao Danh Phu - Deputy Director of Nam Irrigation Company said that during the implementation process, due to the documents having to be adjusted many times, construction on complex geology... the important package of the downstream canal was behind schedule, affecting the project (expected completion on July 30, 2015).

“To facilitate the investor to direct contractors to complete the construction on schedule and put the project into production soon, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Construction Management, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development need to pay attention and promptly arrange capital. After having the money, we will focus on completing the canal banks, high-pressure lamps... according to the approved design documents,” said Mr. Phu.

Not only the Nam Dan culvert project, there are currently a number of key projects in the area that are behind schedule such as: Ban Mong reservoir, Ca river dike system, Khe Lai - Vuc Mau lake, Vach Nam - Bung river...

Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the need to repair and upgrade the irrigation infrastructure system requires a lot of funding, but due to limited capital (especially after implementing Resolution 11NQ/CP on curbing inflation, Directive 1792/CP of the Government on strengthening investment management from State budget capital and bond capital), many reservoirs and key dikes are of low quality, the works have not achieved the flood prevention target, so there are many potential risks of incidents. The efficiency of capital use is still not high due to lack of concentration and focus in investment, and counterpart funds for ODA projects are not timely. Capital mobilization for the construction of irrigation infrastructure systems is still limited, not attracting many programs and investment channels outside the budget.

Another reason is that the management and organizational capacity of some investors, management boards and consulting units is still weak, so the planning work as well as the establishment of investment projects for some works is still slow, of low quality, and must be adjusted many times.

Meanwhile, the financial capacity and construction experience of some contractors are limited, so after winning the bid, they do not construct the project on schedule, prolonging the project implementation time.

“The change in State policy has led to a significant increase in compensation costs for site clearance, so it is necessary to adjust the compensation costs and total investment of projects such as the Ban Mong reservoir project, Khe Lai - Vuc Mau lake, Nha Le canal in the south of Dien Chau district... Most of the projects have compensation costs using local counterpart funds, so they face many difficulties,” said Mr. Hieu.

Viet Phuong