HCM City is pushing for faster disbursement of funds at public works this year. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hải

 HCM CITY — HCM City is seeking to speed up public spending after many projects reported delays this year.

A report tabled at a recent meeting showed that only 10.3 per cent of the funds earmarked for this year, or VNĐ3.48 trillion (US$149.3 million), had been disbursed in the first quarter, much lower than in other localities in the Southern Key Economic Region and putting it among localities with the country’s lowest disbursement rates.

A senior official in the Management Board for Traffic Works Construction and Investment, which manages many key transport projects, said after having fund allocated in December, the board immediately began to work on projects, designing and submitting to competent authorities for approval, selecting consultants and evaluating bid documents.

These took a lot of time, leading to slow disbursement in the first quarter, but things would speed up from the middle of the second quarter, he assured.

The board has started work on 13 transport projects costing over VNĐ3.5 trillion ($150.28 million), including the six-lane 75m Mỹ Thủy 3 bridge in District 2, a pedestrian bridge in front of the new Eastern Bus Station on Hanoi Highway in District 9 and a subway under it.

It has also co-ordinated with contractors to speed up work on other projects such as upgrade of Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh Street, Y-shaped Bridge, An Sương underground tunnel, Tô Ký Street and others.

Other construction and investment management boards in the city have also sought to speed up their work.

To improve the situation, city authorities are considering new procedures that would improve the management and disbursement of public funds.

The city is urgently implementing Decree No.40/2020/ND-CP governing the implementation of a number of articles of the Public Investment Law and Resolution No.27/NQ-CP on piloting mechanisms and processes to reduce the time required for land acquisition.

The city holds meetings every two weeks to review and evaluate public spending hoping to achieve a disbursement rate of over 80 per cent by October 15.

According to analysts, the most difficult aspect is land acquisition. Delays in this not only affect disbursement progress and investment efficiency, but also causes many projects to stall.

The second inherent bottleneck involves administrative procedures and co-ordination between authorised agencies in carrying out public projects.

All projects take three to four months merely to complete investment procedures, while the selection of contractors takes 45 days.

At a recent meeting Võ Văn Hoan, vice chairman of the city People’s Committee, called on relevant agencies to review and handle these problems to speed up public spending. — VNS