HCM CITY – Many anti-landslide projects in HCM City are lagging behind schedule due to limited capital resources and slow progress of land clearance and compensation, according to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Failure to deliver project land on time has affected general construction progress at 40 landslide-prone areas along the Sài Gòn River, Trần Văn Giàu, director of the Inland Waterway Department, said.

Though the city urged district authorities before January 1 to speed up land clearance and compensation, most project land was not handed over in time, he added.

Among eight projects expected to be completed this year, three of them along Kinh Lộ River’s Giồng Dam, Phước Lộc Bridge, and Tắc Bến Rô Dam, are at a standstill because residents have not moved out yet.

Since the three projects are in Nhà Bè District, where extensive waterway system plays a significant part in people’s lives, it is urgent to begin construction work there.

Some residents have not been satisfied with the compensation rate, and have not handed over their land and resettled elsewhere, according to Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper.

Hiền, a resident in Nhơn Đức Commune, said that he had not received any information on compensation rates.

Difficulties in determining appropriate compensation rates and resettlement guidelines for locals have slowed down the project, according to Nhà Bè District’s Steering Board for Compensation and Site Clearance.

Some land owners have yet to be identified, while new regulations on compensation, support and resettlement pose another challenge to authorities.

Some portions of the Land Law 2013 do not reflect the real situation, and in some ways conflict with reality, making it more difficult to carry out the project following the schedule, according to authorities. – VNS