The Government has agreed to allocate in advance VND5 trillion (about US$220 million) as approved by the National Assembly for site clearance, compensation and resettlement in the Long Thanh International Airport project in Dong Nai province.
The Government has agreed to allocate in advance VND5 trillion (about US$220 million) as approved by the National Assembly for site clearance, compensation and resettlement in the Long Thanh International Airport project in Dong Nai province.
According to Document No. 1165 signed last Thursday by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, the central Government assigned Dong Nai authorities to work with the Ministry of Transport and related agencies to conduct feasibility studies for resettlement and site clearance compensation of the Long Thanh airport project.
 |
| An artist’s impression of Long Thanh International Airport’s terminal. |
The Ministry of Planning and Investment was asked to coordinate with related ministries and agencies to appraise these feasibility studies and submit the results to the Prime Minister to report to the 14th National Assembly at its fourth meeting.
The Government has agreed to allocate VND5 trillion from the medium-term public investment plan for the 2016-2020 period approved earlier by the National Assembly for these components, and assigned the People’s Committee of Dong Nai Province to manage and use this amount of capital in accordance with current regulations.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was assigned to appraise policies and a legal framework for the project’s resettlement and site clearance compensation and report to the Prime Minister before August 15, 2017.
According to Dong Nai government, 5,000 hectares of land needs to be cleared to make room for the project, with 4,730 households and 26 organizations to be relocated. About 70% of 15,000 affected people are farmers and the rest are rubber workers and those working for other sectors.
Total resettlement and site clearance cost for the project is estimated at VND23 trillion (over US$1 billion). The NA has allowed the project investor to use VND5 trillion from G-bond sales in the 2017-2020 period for these components, while it is still unknown where to secure the remaining VND18 trillion.
In a report sent to the NA, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said it will work with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport to consider using backup funds for medium-term public investment to finance the project. However, according to the ministry, it would be hard to mobilize VND18 trillion.
In related news, the Prime Minister has agreed to hire foreign consultants to conduct surveys and evaluate possibilities of expanding the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC towards both north and south.
As the project’s investor, the Ministry of Transport will select consultants and submit expansion options to the Prime Minister in December 2017.
(Source:SGT)
