A house is within an area zoned for the construction of the Long Thanh International Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai. The airport’s first phase may cost roughly US$1 billion more than the initial estimate, due to land compensation increases – PHOTO: VNA

In a report in response to a draft resolution on the feasibility study for the first phase, the committee said the total investment, as stated in the NA’s Resolution 94 on in-principle approval for the project issued in 2015, was VND336.63 trillion, or US$16.03 billion applicable to the reference exchange rate of Vietnamese dong versus the U.S. dollar that year.

Of the figure, phase one accounted for an estimated VND114.45 trillion, or US$5.45 billion, including the cost of site clearance for some 5,000 hectares in the southern province of Dong Nai at VND14.139 trillion, or US$673 million.

In 2017, the legislative body adopted another related resolution, which allowed for land acquisition, compensation and resettlement support as a separate subproject.

The subproject cost an additional VND8.8 trillion, due to the addition of 379.35 hectares of land and a hike in compensation prices, raising the total cost of land clearance to VND22.938 trillion.

However, the Government noted in its latest report that the total cost of the first phase would amount to US$4.779 billion, excluding compensation and resettlement support costs.

Compared with investment restructuring in Resolution 94, the first phase now requires an additional US$1 billion.

According to the NA, the previous calculations were all estimates. The first phase is expected to develop several construction items with shared use, such as two roads, the flight management system and air traffic control.

Thus, the NA has asked the Government to decide on the total cost of the first phase, including land compensation and site clearance costs, providing that the overall investment for the three phrases does not surpass VND336.63 trillion, as approved in 2015.

The NA Standing Committee admitted that the current progress of land compensation and site clearance has been slow, so the handover of cleared land for the airport’s construction by the end of 2020 is a major challenge.

The Long Thanh International Airport is expected to meet the 4F standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization and become a major airport in the country and air transshipment hub in the region.

The airport is designed to handle up to 100 million passengers and five million tons of cargo per year once the three construction phases are complete.

In the first phase, slated for completion by 2025, the airport will have a runway and a passenger terminal that can accommodate 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo per year.

One more runway and passenger terminal will be built as part of the second phase to serve some 50 million passengers and carry 1.5 million tons of cargo. The other construction items will be developed in the final phase. SGT

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