Permament Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình speaks at at the Committee’s national online conference held yesterday in Hà Nội to review traffic safety in the first quarter of this year. – Photo tuoitre.vn

HÀ NỘI – Permament Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình asked the Ministry of Transport to propose practical solutions to ensure traffic order and safety in the coming time and prevent traffic accidents, especially cases that seriously damage passenger cars.

Bình, who is also Chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, was speaking at the Committee’s national online conference held yesterday in Hà Nội to review traffic safety in the first quarter of this year.

The country has seen many serious traffic accidents, with numerous injuries and fatalities as well as great damage to property, the deputy PM said.

“Traffic congestion in big cities, especially Hà Nội and HCM City, is still complicated. There are still problems among the law enforcement forces as reflected by the people’s opinions and the press,” he said.  

In the first quarter of every year, the traffic situation is often especially bad due to high traffic density because it is the time of the Tết holiday and spring festivals throughout the country.

From December 16, 2017 to March 15, 2018, 4,674 traffic accidents were reported across the country. The accidents killed 2,149 and injured 3,627 others. According to the committee, the number of traffic accidents and injured people decreased by 2.89 per cent and 5.42 per cent respectively against the first quarter of 2017, while the number of deaths increased by 1.66 per cent.

$320 million disbursed for transport projects

VNĐ7,200 billion (US$320 million ) was disbursed for transport projects in the first quarter of this year, equivalent to 23 per cent of the planned budget for the year, the Transport Ministry announced on Thursday.

The ministry’s press meeting in Hà Nội, chaired by Deputy Minister Nguyễn Ngọc Đông, also reported eight projects have been prepared and submitted for final settlement, while seven other projects have completed the verification and approval of finalisation.

The transport ministry has coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security to organize traffic safety and traffic jam prevention efforts and to ensure security and order at BOT toll stations, ministry representatives said.

In the first three months, transport of commodities and passengers has increased, the conference reported.

Lê Kim Thành, director of the Department of Construction Management and Quality, said that the cracking of the girder of six-lane Vàm Cống Bridge, linking Đồng Tháp Province and Cần Thơ City, was a rare incident. Relevant authorities must be prudent in efforts to determine the cause and develop the best solutions to repair the crack.

The Ministry of Transport is working with the Ministry of Construction, and the State Authority for Construction Quality Inspection to evaluate the incident and publish their findings next month.

In the second quarter of this year, the ministry will focus on finalising and submitting draft amendments to the laws on road traffic, inland waterway traffic, railway and the Vietnamese Maritime Code to the Government for consideration and submission at the sixth session of the National Assembly’s 14^th tenure, scheduled for October 2018.

The ministry will accelerate the preparation of investment for eastern road projects along the North-South Expressway, ensure the conditions for approval of feasibility study reports for all 11 projects in July and speed up the preparation of the pre-feasibility study report on the North-South high-speed rail project.

The ministry will implement the Government’s plan on expanding the overcrowded Tân Sơn Nhất airport, which calls for building another terminal south of the airport, and hold negotiations and sign contracts with a consultant to prepare a feasibility study for the Long Thành International Airport project in May 2018. -- VNS