HCM CITY — An additional VNĐ20 trillion (US$883 million) needed for infrastructure projects by 2020 will have to come from the city budget as well as from private sources, as disbursement of state budget funds remains slow, the deputy chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, Trần Vĩnh Tuyến, has said.

As of the end of July, only VNĐ13.2 trillion ($583 million) had been disbursed of the VNĐ26.2 trillion ($1.16 billion) from state budget funds allocated this year for infrastructure projects in the city, according to the Department of Planning and Investment.

The city still needs Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds of VNĐ7.7 trillion ($340 million) for projects for the rest of the year, but State funds can only provide 50 per cent of that figure.

A department official said that limited funds were causing projects to run behind schedule.

The slow disbursement of funds has also caused difficulties for project contractors, resulting in penalties and more interest charged for delayed payments.

The Metro Line No 2 project, which will link Bến Thành Station in District 1 to Tham Lương Station in District 12, has seen delays because of slow capital disbursement for land clearance, according to reports from district authorities.

A new bidding law on land compensation prices to residents who must resettle to make way for infrastructure projects has still not been approved, contributing to the delay.  

Tuyến asked local government agencies to adjust compensation prices if the prices are inappropriate, and told districts to review their methods on disbursing capital.

The city’s Department of Home Affairs is also responsible for price appraisals that would determine the amount of compensation for land.
He also said the localities should speed ​​up disbursement of all state budget funds by the end of the year.

“Localities that do not disburse all capital will have to report to the Government on how they use their state budget funds next year,” he said. — VNS