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 — Đồng Nai Province plans to send officials to assist the Long Thành District in speeding up site clearance, compensation and resettlement for households affected by the Long Thành international airport project so that construction can begin next year. 

As scheduled, Đồng Nai Province will hand over the priority area of ​​1,800ha to the project investor by October, and the entire land by the second quarter of 2021.

Cao Tiến Dũng, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said at a recent meeting that it was important to complete the assessment of cleared land for affected households within this year.

As of today, Long Thanh District People’s Committee has made three compensation payments worth over VNĐ440 billion (US$19.08 million) to 269 households, according to Dũng.

Lê Văn Tiếp, vice chairman of Long Thành District People’s Committee, said due to the large number of affected households with the large land area, compensation payments will be implemented several times. 

At the end of April, the provincial People’s Committee started construction of five bidding packages to build technical infrastructure at the Lộc An - Bình Sơn resettlement area, including four roads and drainage systems.

Land used for resettlement purpose is expected to be handed over to the affected households next month when the roads are completed. Meanwhile, the remaining technical infrastructure facilities are being implemented quickly, according to Tiếp. 

Delayed disbursement

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, delayed land acquisition disbursement for the airport could affect the progress of the airport, scheduled to begin in the second quarter next year and to be completed by 2025.

As of June,only 10 per cent of the VNĐ18.19 trillion ($784 million) allocated for airport land acquisition and compensation had been disbursed, according to the ministry.

In April, the Đồng Nai administration committed to disburse all funding within this year, but the low disbursement rate means the province will likely fail to complete land acquisition and compensation by 2021 as promised, experts have warned.

Recently, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc requested the province to speed up site clearance and compensation as well as disbursement of all VNĐ23 trillion for the airport project in accordance with the law.

The PM also set a deadline for assessment of cleared land for compensation purposes by the end of November.

He suggested that the Ministry of Transport closely work with Đồng Nai Province to promptly solve any hurdles to ensure the project remains on schedule.

To build Long Thành airport, the site clearance project must acquire more than 5,000ha of land and more than 364 extra hectares to build two resettlement sites.

Around 4,800 local households and 26 organisations are expected to be relocated to make way for the proposed airport. 

The airport is expected to serve 100 million passengers and five million tonnes of freight each year.

Covering a total area of more than 5,580 hectares, the airport will be located in six communes in Long Thành District in Đồng Nai Province. The airport’s total investment is VNĐ336.63 trillion ($14.47 billion), with construction divided into three phases.

In the first phase, a runway and one passenger terminal along with other supporting works will be built to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo each year. — VNS