VietNamNet Bridge – Several major transport works in HCM City have been progressing at a snail's pace, affecting people's daily lives and making the investments inefficient.

Among them are the 5.5-km Eastern Ring Road linking Provincial Road No 25 in District 2 with Rach Chiec Bridge in District 9, which was scheduled for completion in 2009.

A worker at the construction site, who declined to be named, said work was suspended in November 2011 and resumed in April 2012, but is progressing very slowly because of a cash crunch.

Vu Kien Thiet, director of the Urban Transport Management No 2, admitted that delayed payment to contractors by the investor, Phu My Investment and Construction JSC, was the main reason for the tardy progress.

The city Department of Transport has urged the investor to speed up things and complete the work by the end of this year, he said.

But a Phu My JSC executive rejected this, saying the city should have handed over the land required for the work in June 2006 for completion of the ring road at the same time as the Phu My Bridge in September 2009.

The land was only handed over in July last year, he said.

Construction-material prices have since increased, but the city authorities have yet to approve the new cost, making it impossible for Phu My to get a loan of VND130 billion (US$6.3 million) for the project.

So construction of the Eastern Ring Road is unlikely to be finished by the end of this year as promised, he said.

Another delayed project is the one to expand the 8.1-km stretch of Provincial Road No 10 from Tan Tao Bridge to the border with Long An Province, scheduled for completion in 2010.

Vo Hoang Viet Tuan, deputy director of the Urban Transport Management No 4 – the investor – said an additional VND320 billion ($15.3 million) is needed for the road expansion besides VND150 billion ($7.2 million) for a drainage system along the road.

His agency was yet to get some lands required for the work along Provincial Road No 10 and Mai Ba Huong Cross-road since 20 households have yet to receive compensation, he said.

Delay in acquiring and clearing land is the main problem faced at 14 out of 16 major transport projects.

A build-operation-transfer project to widen a 15.7km stretch of the Ha Noi Highway from Sai Gon Bridge to Binh Thai Intersection has also been delayed due to tardy land clearance.

Nguyen Thanh Nam, director of the project, said land should have been cleared by April 2010 but has not yet been done.

The work, scheduled to be finished in 2013, may be delayed by a year.

Frequent jams

The delay in widening the Ha Noi Highway has been blamed for the frequent traffic jams at the city's eastern entrance, especially in front of Suoi Tien Tourism Park, the Thu Duc Crossroads, and Suoi Cai Bridge.

A manager at the HCM City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay Expressway management board said construction is scheduled to be completed in October 2013, but the expressway would not become operational since the approach road in HCM City is not ready.

He said site clearance is under way for the 4km approach road connecting the Mai Chi Tho – Luong Dinh Cua Intersection with the start of the expressway in District 9. In the event, construction of the approach road cannot be finished before 2014, he said.

At a meeting of the HCM City People's Council last month members said work to expand Provincial Road No 10 was very slow, pointing out that a section of the same road in Long An Province was completed 10 years ago.

VietNamNet/VNS