Workers hang a banner asking for Daelim Company to pay their salaries. Photo tienphong.vn

HÀ NỘI — Many workers on Hà Nội’s major infrastructure projects had gone unpaid for years although the projects had been completed, Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper reported.

Nguyễn Văn T, a Construction Joint Stock Company 1 worker responsible for the maintenance at the Cát Linh – Hà Đông Metro depot in Phú Lương Commune, Hà Đông District, has not received his wages or allowances for a year.

Similarly, the overpass at the Nhổn – Hà Nội Railway Station was completed in 2018 yet many workers have not been paid.

Last week, they set up stands and banners at the construction site demanding to be paid.

At several other projects including the An Dương Overpass, Đông Trù Bridge and Vĩnh Tuy Bridge, many workers and engineers are suffering the same delays.

Lê Văn Thành, director of Construction Joint Stock Company 1, said the general contractor (from China) was still holding VNĐ19 billion (US$817,000) of the VNĐ80 billion construction package.

“The money will be used to pay for workers and facilities costs,” he said.

Despite the company’s payment demands, the contractor has kept delaying.

According to Cienco 1 Company, the constructor of the Nhổn – Hà Nội Railway Station Metro Overpass, South Korea-based Daelim Company, the project’s main contractor, has not paid them VNĐ20 billion for workers' salaries.

Nguyễn Cao Minh, head of Hà Nội Railway Project Management Board, said last week they had worked with Daelim and related agencies to ask them to clear wage debts.

The contractor has followed up on the request.

On the An Dương Overpass project, Nguyễn Chí Cường, deputy director of the management board of Hà Nội's traffic infrastructure projects, said the investor had paid contractors, so payment delays were their responsibility. – VNS