The Ministry of Transport’s Railway Project Management Unit has asked the Chinese contractor, supervisory consulting firm and subcontractors in charge of the Cat Linh-Ha Dong elevated railway project to explain the lack of safety and faults found during the construction process.

After being informed that the work did not meet safety requirements and the workers were not professionally trained, the management unit on Thursday sent an urgent dispatch requiring the Company Limited China Railway Bureau Group 6, the main contractor, to account for the shortcomings.

They must submit reports before next Tuesday, which will be sent to the transport ministry leadership, according to the infonet.vn newspaper.

Accordingly, the main contractor and the supervisory consulting firm must quickly examine, review and fix all problems related to safety and the use of labourers by subcontractors; stop the practice of those who violate traffic safety regulations, industrial safety, environmental hygiene, and fire prevention; and take measures to strictly monitor the management of the project’s quality.

“The unit pledges to strictly deal with violations, if any, to ensure occupational safety and traffic safety on the construction sites as stipulated and directed by the transport ministry,” a representative of the management unit said.

A report showed that as of March 2, construction on the Ha Dong, Cat Linh, La Thanh, Thai Ha, Lang and Thanh Xuan 3 stations was progressing slower than scheduled, and lasted for 22 days instead of nine. The delays were caused by the long Tet (lunar New Year) holiday, the slow mobilisation of labour forces and the fact that the main contractor was in debt to subcontractors.

“The biggest obstacle of the project is capital. Statistics show that the main contractor has owed subcontractors about VND400 billion ($17.7 million),” a Chinese representative said.

“The main contractor is considering further disbursement and will soon work with the group to mobilise capital sources to timely disburse the funds for subcontractors.”

The 13.5km Cat Linh-Ha Dong elevated railway broke ground in October 2011.

VNS