The 12-kilometre Nhổn-Hà Nội Station metro line, the second of its kind in the capital city, starts from Nhổn in Nam Từ Liêm District and ends at the Hà Nội Station in Đống Đa District. It is one of the key transport projects in the capital. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — In his role as head of the State steering committee for nationally important transport projects, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính raised the issue that many projects are behind schedule.

The hybrid event was connected with the 39 provinces and centrally-run cities with major transport projects.

Across the country, preparations are being made for the implementation of 32 road projects and sub-projects while 24 others are being carried out. The key projects under review include the urban railways in Hà Nội and HCM City, the construction of Long Thành International Airport in Đồng Nai Province, and the building of Terminal T3 of Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City.

PM Chính said 21 key transport projects with over 70 sub-projects are being carried out nationwide. In the future, the Government will add some expressway projects linking different regions to guarantee smooth transport connectivity across the country.

This is a heavy workload requiring the strong engagement and determination of all ministries, sectors, localities, units, and contractors, he emphasised.

Highly valuing their efforts to tackle difficulties and obstacles to projects, he also pointed out that many projects are still sluggish, the quality of investment preparations remains modest, site clearance in certain localities is slow, the capacity of some project management boards is limited, while some projects have been divided into too many small bidding packages.

The Government leader demanded a review to identify weaknesses and causes to devise timely and effective solutions.

He asked ministries and sectors to coordinate with one another to deal with difficulties related to construction materials; consulting, supervision, and design weaknesses; along with some contractors’ poor capacity and lack of a sense of responsibility.

In addition, they have to work harder to guarantee the quality and progress of projects; labour safety; projects’ satisfaction of technical, aesthetic, and environmental standards; and the rights and legitimate interests of people and enterprises. They also need to prevent the unreasonable hike of investment capital, the division of projects into many small bidding packages, and negative phenomena and wastefulness in the implementation process.

PM Chính also requested increasing supervision and examination to early discover and solve problems to speed up those projects.

Airport proposals

Regarding the master plan for the development of the airport and airport system nationwide in the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, the Ministry of Transport said it received the proposals of 10 localities to have more airport(s) or upgrade existing airport(s) in their planning.

They include Hà Giang, Yên Bái, Tuyên Quang, Hà Tĩnh, Kon Tum, Quảng Ngãi, Khánh Hòa, Đắk Nông and Tây Ninh. A majority of the localities proposed to build additional airports

Among ten locations proposed by the localities, there are two in Hà Giang and Tuyên Quang where it is not feasible to build runway and design air navigation method due to the difficult terrain, however, these localities can further study other locations that are more feasible.

In the rest of eight proposed locations, it is feasible to build runways and design air navigation method. However, most of them have conflicts and overlaps in the airspace, with some locations needing further data.

Basically, the proposed locations need further research and thorough assessment in terms of topographical conditions and airspace organisation, said the ministry.

The transport ministry directed the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to work with relevant agencies and localities and have the preliminary assessment of the possibility of building airports in the localities.

Noting that the proposals of these localities are legitimate given their great potential in air transport, the Ministry suggested they have consultations with another party in order to have sufficient data and assessment. — VNS