KHÁNH HÒA — The North-South Expressway project in the central coastal province of Khánh Hòa would require 186 households to be reallocated, reported online newspaper vov.vn.

The 40km road will run through the districts of Diên Khánh and Cam Lâm, as well as Cam Ranh City.

Local authorities have allocated 2ha of land for 10 resettlement areas for the affected households.

The project’s management board has been asked to build the resettlement areas first so local people can move in after they have to leave their current homes.

Authorities have also set aside land for people who lost areas for cultivation.

“The North-South Expressway is a key national project so local authorities in co-operation with transport departments need to solve resetlement-related issues,” said Lê Đức Vinh, chairman of Khánh Hòa’s People’s Committee.

With a total length 654km, the North-South expressway runs through the provinces of Nam Định, Ninh Bình, Thanh Hoá, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên-Huế, Khánh Hoà, Ninh Thuận, Bình Thuận, Đồng Nai, Tiền Giang and Vĩnh Long. The project is expected to help improve national competitiveness and attract foreign investment to the country, as well as create more momentum for local socio-economic development. The VNĐ118.71 trillion (US$5.1 billion) project has 11 sub-projects, with three financed by the State and the rest using funding from the public-private partnerships (PPP) model.

The transport ministry has reported that it has approved all 11 sub-projects, as well as plans to select contractors for them. Land clearance councils in charge of assistance and resettlement have been established for ten out of the 11 sub-projects.

Preparation for site clearance must be completed by the beginning of the second quarter of 2019. — VNS