Workers construct the HCM Opera House metro station.

At the construction site of Hanoi’s Mai Dich-Nam Thang Long Viaduct, some 200 workers have been divided into groups of ten, taking charge of constructing the deck and setting up barriers.

Thai Binh Duong, deputy director of Management Board of Package 1 of Cienco4-Sumitomo joint venture, said besides operating the project, the investor was taking preventative measures to protect workers from COVID-19.

“All workers and engineers have their temperatures checked, make health declarations and wash their hands thoroughly before entering the construction site,” Duong told Giao thông (Transportation) newspaper.

“We have small groups of less than ten people and maintain a distance of two metres between them,” he said, adding the project was set to finish by the end of August.

At HCM City’s Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien Metro Project, Nguyen Dinh Thuan, the coordinating director, said they remained focused on completing Ben Thanh Station at this time.

“We are trying to complete 85 per cent of the work in 2020,” said Nhuan.

The HCM Opera House and Ba Son stations and a tunnel connecting them are under construction and are expected to be 90 per cent complete by the end of this year.

Cuu Long Company, the investor of Lo Te-Rach Soi Expressway connecting HCM City with the Mekong Delta, said the road was being surfaced.

Although their South Korean consultants were quarantined for 14 days after returning to Vietnam, the project had not been delayed and would be finished by the end of 2020, the company’s representative said.  

HCM City authorities have suspended non-urgent construction projects until April 15, following nationwide social distancing rules to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Investors of sub-projects on the North-South route said they had pulled out all the stops to accelerate construction progress.

The Cam Lo-La Son project was 135 per cent ahead of schedule, according to Ministry of Defence’s Thanh An Company, the project’s contractor.

Hand santiniser, mouthwash and face masks are provided at construction sites for workers.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The has urged investors and contractors of major traffic construction projects to guarantee progress while ensuring safety for workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Directors of project management boards need to make rational personnel arrangements to ensure the progress of projects as well as disbursement, while avoiding stagnation,” said The. VNS

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