Upgrade and widening of a section of National Highway No. 27 being carried out in Ninh Thuận Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Công Thử

NINH THUẬN — The Ninh Thuận Province People's Committee has called for completing land acquisition and handover to contractors by the end of September for the upgrade and widening of 10.18km of National Highway No 27 in the south-central coastal province of Ninh Thuận.

The work, divided into three bidding packages and estimated to cost VNĐ216 billion (US$9.5 million), began in May and is scheduled to finish within a year.

Project Management Board No. 8 of the Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam is overseeing the construction.

Sections passing through Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm city and Ninh Sơn District will be repaired and widened to 12m and four lanes from the current two.

The Đá Bridge on the highway will also get an upgrade.

Nguyễn Huy Hoàng, director of the Project Management Board No. 8, said delays in land acquisition and relocation of technical infrastructure (such as telecom, electricity and water infrastructure and drains) have affected progress .

Some 4,000m of fibre-optic cables and water pipes, 70 electric poles and five substations have not been relocated yet.

Phan Tấn Cảnh, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, warned the work would be called off if the required lands are not handed over to the contractors before October.

The people’s committee has instructed authorities in Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm and Ninh Sơn to speed up land acquisition.

The Ninh Thuận Power Company, Ninh Thuận Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Southern Network Infrastructure Centre, rural water supply and sanitation centre, and Viettel have been urged to speed up the relocation work.

The province Department of Transport has been told to monitor the acquisition and report to the committee in case of difficulties for it to promptly resolve.

The upgrade is expected to improve road safety and connectivity, and foster the development of both coastal and Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) provinces.

The 290km National Highway No. 27 connects Ninh Thuận with the Central Highlands provinces of Lâm Đồng and Đắk Lắk, running up to the latter’s Buôn Ma Thuột City. — VNS