VietNamNet Bridge – Construction of HCM City’s first metro line from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Suoi Tien Tourist Park in district 9 is expected to be completed by the end of 2020, leaders of the city People’s Committee said after visiting the construction site on Thursday.

HCM City’s first metro line from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Suối Tiên Tourist Park in district 9 is under construction. — Photo thethaovanhoa.vn

They visited the Opera House station, the tunnel under the Opera House to Ba Son station and Phuoc Long station.

Contractors and consulting firms complained to them about slow approval of cost overruns and payment delays, which have stymied the work.

“We hope the city will pay contractors and consulting firms in time before the Government approves the new cost of the project,” a spokesman of NJPT Association, the general consultants for project, said.

The construction, which began in 2012, was originally scheduled to be finished in 2017 with trains starting to run this year.

It is the first of eight metro lines planned in the city, and 62.5 per cent of the work has been completed.

“While waiting for approval from the Government for the new cost of the project, the municipal People’s Committee will work closely with ministries to get funding to ensure it stays on schedule,” chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said.

“The city will regularly meet with contractors and consultants to resolve problems.”

Phong instructed related authorities and the Management Authority of Urban Railways to complete legal formalities and achieve the target of completing 80 per cent of the work this year.

Meanwhile, the People’s Committee has accepted the Asian Development Bank’s Accountability Mechanism for the metro line No 2 from Ben Thanh Market to Tham Luong in District 12.

Under the mechanism, land acquisition and compensation payment for the project will be transparently and publicly done in accordance with Vietnamese laws.

Its contents will be sent to residents who are affected by the work.

The People’s Committee has sought the Government’s authority to evaluate and approve legal provisions for land acquisition, compensation and resettling affected people elsewhere.

The 11.3km second metro line was approved in 2010 at a cost of VND26 trillion (US$1.2 billion).

But the cost will almost certainly have increased.

Source: VNS