A rendering of the proposed Long Thành International Airport in the southern province of Đồng Nai. — Photo courtesy of Airports Corporation of Việt Nam

HCM CITY — The first households in Long Thành District in the southern province of Đồng Nai whose land will be handed over for Long Thành international airport project began receiving compensation worth a total of VNĐ70 billion (US$3.01 million) on Monday, according to the district’s People’s Committee.

The 17 households are located in a 1,800ha area that will need to be cleared to make way for the airport. Other residents will continue to receive compensation payments on June 1 and 15, according to the committee.

Recently, the province authorities approved the compensation rates payable to the affected households who must move to make way for the airport. 

A total of 3,027ha of land is to be acquired, and the rates range from VNĐ161,000 ($7) per square metre to VNĐ6.573 million ($280).

Non-agricultural land will be paid VNĐ1.392-6.573 million per square meter, depending on the location, and VNĐ161,000-360,000 per square metre for agricultural land.

According to the district People’s Committee, compensation rates have been decided for 403 households, and rates for other households are still under consideration. 

District authorities have also organised a meeting to discuss resettlement for 47 households. 

According to the provincial committee, the province is committed to handing over the entire ground for the much-waited airport project to the investor in the second quarter of 2021. 

The central Government recently urged the province to disburse VNĐ17 trillion ($731.79 million) in land clearance compensation for the airport this year so that work could begin next year.

Long Thành International Airport is a key national project that would have a significant impact on the southern key economic region.

To build the airport, more than 5,000ha of land must be cleared and another 364ha are required to build the two resettlement sites.

Some 4,800 households and 26 organisations are expected to be relocated. Around 70 per cent of the 15,500 people who will have to move are farmers, and the rest are rubber plantation workers and workers in other sectors.

Once fully operational, the airport is expected to handle 100 million passengers and five million tonnes of freight a year.

It will straddle six communes in Long Thành District. It will cost VNĐ336.63 trillion ($14.35 billion), with its construction divided into three phases. In the first phase, a runway and one terminal along with required support works will be built to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo annually.

The first phase is expected to be completed by 2025. — VNS