Construction work is conducted on the Vân Phong-Nha Trang section of the North-South Expressway project. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hùng

HÀ NỘI — Construction progress of the North-South Expressway project phase two, which lasts between 2021-25, is dependent on site clearance and construction materials supplied by localities, said construction managers.

A report of the Ministry of Transport (MoT) last Thursday said that localities had actively implemented site clearance for the project.

So far, the project had been handed over 89 per cent of the site, up by two per cent compared with last month.

As much as 80 per cent of the site could be built, an increase of three per cent compared to the previous month.

Construction for resettlement areas and technical infrastructure relocation, especially high-voltage power lines, was being conducted but was still slow, the report said.

As for construction materials, the MoT said last month, it attested exploitation registration for 42 out of 69 material exploitation sites. As many as 15 out of those 42 sites were operating.

The sites that had not been exploited were mainly due to uncompleted negotiations with the land owner on prices, land use rights and capital contribution.

Some exploitation sites would also have to carry out procedures for changing land use purposes.

Although the Prime Minister assigned sand supply targets to different provinces - such as An Giang 33 million cubic metres, Đồng Tháp 0.5 million cubic metres and Vĩnh Long five million cubic metres - for the Cần Thơ-Cà Mau Expressway sub-project, some localities did it slowly, not meeting the requirements, according to the MoT.

Participating directly as an investor in the Quảng Ngãi-Hoài Nhơn Expressway sub-project, Cao Việt Hùng, deputy director of the Project Management Board No. 2, said that the project had handed over 76km out of 88km, or 86.3 per cent.

Of this length, Quảng Ngãi Province handed over 53.4km out of 60.3km, or 88.45 per cent, and Hoài Nhơn Town in Bình Định Province handed over 22.6km out of 27.7km, or 81.8 per cent.

However, Hùng revealed that contractors could access only about 68.5km out of 88km, or 78 per cent.

The remaining sections had not been constructed because there is no road to access the construction site.

Localities were relocating technical infrastructure works for 13 sections of the route, leading to interruptions in construction.

A delay in licensing the material exploitation sites had greatly affected overall progress, leading to lower construction output than planned.

On that basis, the Project Management Board No. 2 proposed to solve problems related to ground clearance, and hand over the remaining sections soon so that the contractors can implement their work.

Prerequisites

To complete the North-South Expressway project phase two by 2025, the MoT directed contractors to take advantage of favourable weather conditions to organise overtime construction.

It requested localities to complete ground handover of the entire route in the third quarter of this year.

Localities must carefully review procedures to determine the cost of compensation for site clearance and prevent unreasonable costs inconsistent with the framework approved by the PM and the laws.

Provinces and cities where the project passes through must set up working groups under the PM’s direction to negotiate with land owners to ensure they are consistent with the compensation prices prescribed by the State.

They should apply sanctions for cases of deliberately raising prices, and complete procedures to exploit 27 sites this month and the remaining 27 sites next month. 

The MoT also proposed the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment should soon draft a report to the National Assembly on changing the land use purpose of the project.

It should soon advise the Government to allow Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định, Phú Yên and Khánh Hòa provinces to increase the capacity of licensed sand mines. — VNS