Workers construct the HCM Opera House metro station. — VNA/VNS Photo Tiến Lực

HÀ NỘI — Major transport construction projects are carrying on as scheduled across the country despite social distancing measures to deal with COVID-19.

At the construction site of Hà Nội’s Mai Dịch-Nam Thăng Long Viaduct, some 200 workers have been divided into groups of ten, taking charge of constructing the deck and setting up barriers.

Thái Bình Dương, deputy director of Management Board of Package 1 of Cienco4-Sumitomo joint venture, said besides operating the project, the investor was taking preventative measures to protect workers from COVID-19.

“All workers and engineers have their temperatures checked, make health declarations and wash their hands thoroughly before entering the construction site,” Dương told Giao thông (Transportation) newspaper.

“We have small groups of less than ten people and maintain a distance of two metres between them,” he said, adding the project was set to finish by the end of August.

At HCM City’s Bến Thành-Suối Tiên Metro Project, Nguyễn Định Thuận, the coordinating director, said they remained focused on completing Bến Thành Station at this time.

“We are trying to complete 85 per cent of the work in 2020,” said Nhuận.

The HCM Opera House and Ba Son stations and a tunnel connecting them are under construction and are expected to be 90 per cent complete by the end of this year.

Cửu Long Company, the investor of Lộ Tẻ-Rạch Sỏi Expressway connecting HCM City with the Mekong Delta, said the road was being surfaced.

Although their South Korean consultants were quarantined for 14 days after returning to Việt Nam, the project had not been delayed and would be finished by the end of 2020, the company’s representative said.  

HCM City authorities have suspended non-urgent construction projects until April 15, following nationwide social distancing rules to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Investors of sub-projects on the North-South route said they had pulled out all the stops to accelerate construction progress.

The Cam Lộ-La Sơn project was 135 per cent ahead of schedule, according to Ministry of Defence’s Thành An Company, the project’s contractor.

Hand santiniser, mouthwash and face masks are provided at construction sites for workers.

Minister of Transport Nguyễn Văn Thể has urged investors and contractors of major traffic construction projects to guarantee progress while ensuring safety for workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Directors of project management boards need to make rational personnel arrangements to ensure the progress of projects as well as disbursement, while avoiding stagnation,” said Thể. — VNS