Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính chaired a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Key National Transport Project yesterday in Hà Nội. VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI – Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính requested the Ministry of Transport and other relevant agencies to accelerate major projects across the country this year while chairing a committee to remove difficulties and obstacles facing key works. 

PM Chính, who is also head of the Steering Committee for Key National Transport Projects, chaired the 5th session of the committee yesterday. 

At the meeting, the committee reviewed and evaluated the implementation of 31 key national transport projects, including the North-South Expressway, the East-West Highway connecting six socio-economic regions, the ring roads in Hà Nội and HCM City, urban railways in Hà Nội and HCM City, Long Thành International Airport, and Passenger Terminal T3 at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport.

Leaders of the ministries, agencies and localities raised several difficulties and obstacles that need to be removed to promote works and projects.

Site clearance is still a bottleneck of projects. The supply of construction materials and sand for the embankment of some expressways, especially in the Mekong Delta region, should be allocated more quickly and flexibly, while some projects are facing difficulties regarding waste dump locations.

The conversion of forest use purposes and the adjustment of capital sources for projects are slow due to cumbersome procedures.

The PM said that public investment was one of the important drivers of growth, including traffic works and projects.

These works should ensure multiple objectives of disbursing public investment capital, fighting against wastefulness and negative phenomenon in mobilising resources, boosting production and business, creating jobs and livelihoods for people, especially in the project area, and creating new development spaces, Chính told the meeting.

In recent years, ministries and localities have greatly tried to achieve important project implementation results.

However, he said many works and projects are still behind schedule, especially the Long Thành International Airport project.

The PM asked the Ministry of Transport, relevant agencies and localities to make more efforts to achieve the set goals.

The PM said that the weather is currently very favourable for construction. All stakeholders need to actively participate and take responsibility in removing difficulties and obstacles and reducing administrative procedures to create favourable for the construction of projects across the country.

The ministry was asked to urgently handle and settle project procedures and list obstacles related to the conversion of rice and forest land, mechanisms, policies, and incentives, and then report to the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration.

The ministry was also requested to diversify capital sources for investment in key national works and projects, especially public-private capital sources.

Chính also assigned specific tasks to the ministries, branches and localities in the coming time.

For projects that have not yet been approved for investment, Chính requested involved ministries and localities to complete procedures for investment preparation urgently.

For the Ninh Bình-Nam Định-Thái Bình expressway project, it was necessary to review the investment.

For the projects of Châu Đốc-Cần Thơ-Sóc Trăng and Biên Hòa-Vũng Tàu, Khánh Hòa-Buôn Ma Thuột, that the investment has been approved, the PM directed localities to urgently carry out the site clearance and complete the procedures to start construction by June 30.

For the projects which are being carried out, including three highway projects of Mai Sơn-Quốc lộ 45, Dầu Giây-Phan Thiết, and Phan Thiết- Vĩnh Hảo that are expectedly completed and put into operation on April 30, the Ministry of Transport has to ask contractors to speed up the construction to ensure the schedules.

Regarding the Long Thành International Airport project, the PM requested the ministry, agencies and the Committee for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises to set up measures to speed up the construction, ensure quality, and organise open and transparent bidding to select capable contractors.

Ministry of Transport, in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and related localities, were asked to submit the Government and National Assembly a proposal for adjustment of ​​forest and rice cultivation land areas under the North-South Expressway Project in the 2021-2025 period.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment was asked to speed up the adjustment of the implementation time of the Bến Thành-Tham Lương Urban Railway Project and appraisal of the investment adjustment of the Tuyên Quang-Phú Thọ Expressway Project.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall guide the Ministry of Transport to remove obstacles and difficulties localities face in mining construction materials to meet the project's progress.

The People’s Committees of Hòa Bình, Tuyên Quang, Sơn La, Hưng Yên and Bắc Ninh should review investment scales of highways to have timely adjustments.

People’s committees of Hà Nội and HCM City must accelerate projects of Nhổn- Hà Nội Station and Bến Thành-Suối Tiên.

The 12 provinces and cities that have the North-South Expressway Project must focus on solving people's complaints about compensation prices, arranging temporary accommodation for people during building resettlement areas, removing technical infrastructure works affecting constructions, and speeding up the procedures for granting permits for exploiting construction material mines and dumping sites. VNS