HCMC - Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) has written to the Government and the Ministry of Transport asking for approval to take out bank loans to speed up land clearance and compensation for a major expressway linking Long An and Dong Nai provinces.
HCMC - Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) has written to the Government and the Ministry of Transport asking for approval to take out bank loans to speed up land clearance and compensation for a major expressway linking Long An and Dong Nai provinces.
 |
| An artist’s impression of Phuoc Khanh bridge, a component of Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway project |
VEC plans to use bank loans to compensate for households affected by the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway project, heard a meeting held on Tuesday for leaders of VEC and Dong Nai Province to discuss ways to expedite site clearance for the big-ticket project.
The road is designed to stretch more than 57 kilometers, including 27 kilometers in Dong Nai. The section will start from Long Tau River in the province’s Phuoc Khanh Commune in Nhon Trach District and end at the intersection with National Highway 51 in Phuoc Thai Commune in Long Thanh District.
VEC was quoted by the Vietnam News Agency as saying that 1,240 houses would be relocated to make room for the expressway. The number includes 970 households in Nhon Trach District and 270 households in Long Thanh District.
In late 2014, the government of Dong Nai approved a detailed compensation plan with payments for affected families totaling more than VND813 billion (US$36.3 million).
However, land clearance has been progressing slowly and most of the affected households have not moved due to slow compensation from VEC, which is the investor of the project.
According to the existing regulations, the investor is required to redo procedures for site clearance if it does not have money to complete compensation as approved. This is not what VEC and Dong Nai Province want.
At the meeting, VEC called for the government of Dong Nai to approve payments for site clearance based on decisions made before the revised land law took effect and additional decisions will be issued for the land price differential before and after the law came into force.
Tran Van Vinh, vice chairman of Dong Nai Province, requested relevant agencies and the investor to work out an appropriate compensation plan for affected households to protect their legitimate interests.
As designed, 2.7 kilometers of the road will pass through Ben Luc and Can Giuoc districts of Long An, 26.4 kilometers through Binh Chanh, Nha Be and Can Gio districts of HCMC, and the rest through Dong Nai Province. The expressway will have four lanes for vehicles to travel at a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour and two emergency lanes.
The project comprises more than 20 kilometers of bridge including the 2.76-kilometer-long Binh Khanh bridge spanning the Soai Rap River in HCMC and the 3.18-kilometer-long Phuoc Khanh bridge over the Long Tau River to connect HCMC’s Can Gio District and Dong Nai Province’s Nhon Trach District.
In July this year, VEC broke ground for the cable-stayed Phuoc Khanh bridge as part of Package J3 of the expressway project. The package is being implemented by a consortium of Japanese company Sumitomo Mitsui Construction and Vietnam’s Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (Cienco 4) within 42 months.
The expressway project costs VND31.32 trillion (US$1.4 billion) including US$636 million financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and around US$635 million by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
When in place, the Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway will link southeastern and southwestern provinces as well as create a direct route leading to Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex and an international airport planned in Long Thanh District in Dong Nai Province.
The expressway will be connected to the planned Bien Hoa-Vung Tau expressway to form the southern part of an economic corridor of the Greater Mekong Subregion linking Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
(Source:SGT)
