Slow due to legal complications?
Over the past time, many expressways have been put into operation but there are still no rest stops causing annoyance for travelers.
The Vietnam Expressway Management Department announced last year a list of files, inviting investors to build 8 pairs of rest stops on the North-South expressway.
Those are the stops on the Mai Son – National Highway 45 expressway (Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa), Nghi Son – Dien Chau (Thanh Hoa, Nghe An), Nha Trang – Cam Lam (Khanh Hoa), Cam Lam – Vinh Hao (Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan), Phan Thiet – Dau Giay (Binh Thuan, Dong Nai). Each road will have a pair of rest stops. The Vinh Hao – Phan Thiet expressway (Binh Thuan) has two pairs of stops.
The Vietnam Expressway Management Department requested investors to send files before January 1, 2024. If each project has only one interested unit, the state agency will appoint. In case there are two or more units, the bidding plan will be approved to select an investor.
In an exchange with Tien Phong on the implementation progress, Mr. Nguyen Quang Giang – Deputy Director of the Vietnam Expressway Management Department – said that after the Department announced the file list, inviting investors, so far 32 investors have expressed interest, including 30 investors who meet the criteria.
However, according to Mr. Giang, during the past 2 months, the procedures for bidding to select an investor still have not been able to be implemented because the revised Procurement Law, effective from January 1, 2024, has many different contents compared to the old regulations, at the same time, there has been no guiding decree so the Ministry also does not know which regulations to apply.
According to the Vietnam Expressway Management Department, there are currently 30 investors who meet the criteria to participate in the construction of 8 rest stops on the North-South expressway in the East.
“Three days ago, the new Government issued a detailed decree and measures for implementing the Procurement Law on investor selection. In which, there is a provision for transition regarding rest stops that have announced tenders will continue to be implemented according to the old regulations. Therefore, today the Department will report to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) to allow the application of the results of the criteria that have just been met, and issue bidding documents for 8 stops. If favorable in June, there will be investor selection results and implementation will begin,” Mr. Giang said.
Regarding the remaining 10 rest stops, Mr. Giang said that the Vietnam Expressway Management Department, has to wait for the amendment of Circular 01 to be in line with the decree issued by the Government. The Department is reporting to the Ministry requesting permission from the Government for amendment of circular in a shortened direction.
“If the Government permits, it will take about 2 months, whereas, amending circulars conventionally takes about 6-7 months. Previously, the design area of rest stops was only 1.25 ha, but after reviewing, the Ministry found that the area was too narrow so it was adjusted from 3-5 ha. We are also very anxious about this issue because the public is very concerned. However, we will try to have investors by September this year,” Mr. Giang said.
Currently, on the North-South expressway, there are 7 operating rest stops, 2 stops under construction, and the remaining 27 stops will be invested through privatization. Of which, 20 stops have a planned area of 5 ha on each side, 7 stops have an area of about 3 ha on each side.
Building temporary rest stops
On the Mai Son – NH 45 expressway, while waiting for the official construction of rest stops, the Thang Long Project Management Board is building temporary rest stops.
Information with Tien Phong , Mr. Ho Ngoc Loan – Deputy Director of the Thang Long Project Management Board – said that after receiving instructions from the MOT, since the 2024 in the Gregorian calendar, the investor has started building a temporary system of restrooms along both sides of the expressway to serve the people. The temporary rest stop at Km 329+700 passes through Dong Hoa commune, Dong Son district, Thanh Hoa province.
A temporary rest stop is being built on the Mai Son – NH 45 expressway.
Accordingly, the rest stop has built a closed restroom system, portable restrooms, along with lighting systems at night and guiding signs and warnings for passing vehicles. The construction capital for temporary rest stops is partly derived from the state budget for land clearance, construction of restrooms, and some other items.
According to Mr. Loan, the MOT has approved the investment project for construction and operation of Rest stop at Km 329+700 belonging to the Mai Son – NH 45 Component project with a preliminary value of about VND 194.4 billion. Of which, the right side stop has a total area of nearly 40,000 m2, and the left side stop has a total area of over 32,400 m2.
“We have received quite a lot of investor files showing interest. It is expected that in this year, there will be final selection and groundbreaking,” Mr. Loan said.
Previously, the MOT has approved the plan of 36 rest stops on the North-South expressway in the East from the Huu Nghi border gate (Lang Son) to Ca Mau with an average distance between stops of 59 km.
