Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính chairs the 20th meeting of the State Steering Committee for key national transport projects. VNA/VNS Photo

LÂM ĐỒNG — Deputy chairman of Lâm Đồng People’s Committee Nguyễn Hồng Hải on September 10 reported to Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính about major obstacles in implementing the Gia Nghĩa – Chơn Thành section of the western North–South Expressway.

Speaking at the 20th meeting of the State Steering Committee for key national transport projects, Hải said that the section crossing Lâm Đồng Province stretches 23.1km but site clearance has been progressing slowly.

The biggest challenge is that nearly the entire length of the route overlaps with the Nhân Cơ bauxite mine, which has already been licensed for exploitation.

Of the 23.1km, about 4.5km falls within the concession granted to the Việt Nam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (TKV), holding an estimated reserve of 26 million tonnes.

Provincial authorities have been working with TKV to adjust mining schedules so that land can be handed over for the road project earlier than planned.

For the remaining 15km, reserves of about 1.8 million tonnes have been identified, while another 3.5km area, with an estimated 0.6 million tonnes, has yet to be fully surveyed.

Lâm Đồng has engaged consultants and TKV to assess the economic efficiency of the bauxite reserves so that an appropriate solution can be reached.

The province is determined to complete site clearance and hand over land for the expressway by December.

The Gia Nghĩa – Chơn Thành Expressway runs more than 124km with total investment capital of VNĐ25.9 trillion (US$1.05 billion).

The project has been divided into five sub-projects.

Bình Phước, now under Đồng Nai Province’s responsibility, oversees sub-project 3 on service roads and overpasses and sub-project 5 on land clearance.

Lâm Đồng is in charge of sub-project 2 involving service road construction, and sub-project 4 covering compensation and resettlement for the section crossing its territory.

According to Lâm Đồng’s Department of Construction, apart from this project, the province is also preparing two other key expressways: the Tân Phú (Đồng Nai) – Bảo Lộc (Lâm Đồng) route and the Bảo Lộc – Liên Khương route.

Together, they span 139.6km with an estimated total investment of VNĐ35.7 trillion ($1.45 billion).

While the preparatory work has been largely completed, actual construction has yet to start, hindered by a lack of allocated and disbursed capital, as well as overlaps with the national master plan on mineral exploration and exploitation approved under Decision 866 for the 2021–30 period, with a vision to 2050.

Facing these challenges, the provincial People’s Committee has proposed that the Government issue guidance on handling the overlapping land between the expressway projects and the mineral plan to provide a legal basis for subsequent steps.

It also requested that the central authorities allow reallocation and disbursement of more than VNĐ3.6 trillion ($146 million) earmarked for the two new expressways, while not counting this amount against the province’s regular central budget allocation quota.

Lâm Đồng stressed that timely solutions are critical for the expressways to break ground soon and be completed by 2027 as scheduled, so that they can contribute to the region’s socio-economic development and improving connectivity across the Central Highlands and southern provinces. — VNS