VĨNH LONG — The Ministry of Transport (MoT) and people’s committees of Mekong Delta provinces of Vĩnh Long and Trà Vinh agreed Monday to cancel the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project on National Highway No.53.

The investors said they were struggling with capital arrangement and project implementation.

The construction project of upgrading and renovating a 45.797km stretch of National Highway No.53, connecting Long Hồ City, Vĩnh Long Province and Ba Si Bridge in Trà Vinh Province has an investment of more than VNĐ1.2 trillion (US$52.8 million). The tentative toll collection is 21 years and eight months. The project was started in May 2015.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyễn Nhật said after the National Assembly Standing Committee’s decree on BOT projects’ management, MoT decided to stop implementing the Long Hồ -- Ba Si project in the form of BOT and turn it into a public-invested project instead.

He also asked the leaders of Vĩnh Long Province to give their opinion on the BOT project cancellation besides describing the obstacles they were facing. 

Trần Hoàng Tựu, deputy head of Vĩnh Long Province People’s Committee, said the local authorities had agreed to stop the BOT project on the highway and switch to public investment.

“We request MoT to repair the road for smooth traffic as it is severely damaged,” he said.

The investors’ representative told e-newspaper zing.vn that they found it difficult to accelerate capital since banks had tightened credit grants to the project.

Nhật directed the Cửu Long Project Management Board to cooperate with the investors in checking and evaluating costs shouldered by them due to the project’s cancellation.

The Việt Nam Directorate for Roads is responsible for repairing National Highway No.53 in preparation for Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday. Previously, MoT had worked with Trà Vinh Province People’s Commitee on the Long Hồ -- Ba Si BOT project cancellation. — VNS