The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee has told the Government to present a separate detailed report on the need to build an expressway linking the north and south of the nation.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong has met members of the committee to convince them that the North-South Expressway project would need to be developed as the current backbone of the country, National Highway 1, will deteriorate fast due to increasingly heavy traffic. 

Truong said the project would construct more than 2,000 kilometers of expressway and that VND229.8 trillion would be required to fund the project, with VND136.28 trillion to be sourced from investors and VND93.5 trillion from the State budget.

The transport ministry petitioned the Government to use capital for public investment projects in the 2016-2020 period to fund the project.

Truong proposed the NA Standing Committee streamline procedures by allowing the Government to conduct a number of sub-projects so that the project could be soon complete. 

The ministry plans to complete nearly 1,400 kilometers of expressway from now until 2020, he said.

However, the NA wants the Government to submit a general plan for the project that is expected to support the country’s industrialization and modernization effort.

NA vice chairman Phung Quoc Hien said the project’s investment cost is huge. Besides, the Government should prepare a report on site clearance, compensation and environmental impact assessment. 

Nguyen Duc Hai, head of the NA Financial and Budgetary Committee, and Le Thi Nga, head the NA Justice Committee, said the Government should compile the report.

According to a Ministry of Transport report, the North-South Expressway would go through Hanoi, HCMC and 20 other provinces, and affect 45% of the nation’s population, 65% of seaports and 67% of economic zones. 

Four expressway sections under the project have been opened to traffic, including Phap Van-Cau Gie with 30 kilometers, Cau Gie-Ninh Binh with 50 kilometers, HCMC-Trung Luong with 40 kilometers and HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay with 51 kilometers.

Meanwhile, La Son-Tuy Loan, Danang-Quang Ngai, Ben Luc-Long Thanh and Trung Luong-My Thuan expressways with a combined length of 299 kilometers are underway.

The ministry plans to divide the project into 20 components to easily attract investors to complete the remaining roads under the public-private partnership (PPP) format.

SGT