What Did Quang Nam Report About the Delayed VND 307 Billion ODA Loan Project?

On November 20, the Office of the People’s Committee of Quang Nam Province reported to the Provincial Party Committee Secretary, Mr. Luong Nguyen Minh Triet, regarding media reflections on the Urban Drainage and Environmental Sanitation System project in Nui Thanh Town, Quang Nam Province.

According to the report, the total investment for this project is VND 307,633 billion (equivalent to 12.8 million Euros), including a loan of VND 228,321 billion (equivalent to 9.5 million Euros) from the Italian Government.

The project involves the construction of a wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 5,000 cubic meters per day; a 17,774-meter network of sewage collection pipes; a 7,500-meter rainwater drainage system; and equipment for solid waste collection.

From May 2005 to April 2018, the project was under the management of Quang Nam Water Supply and Drainage Joint Stock Company. Since April 2018, the Quang Nam Provincial Project Management Board has taken over as the investor.

In 2019 and 2022, the Prime Minister issued two decisions to extend the project implementation period until the end of 2023.

The Quang Nam Provincial Project Management Board has actively implemented the project, completing 100% of the construction work and receiving high appreciation from the Sponsor for their performance.

Quang Nam Province is recognized as the fastest in project execution compared to Ca Mau and Binh Thuan Provinces, which share the same loan agreement. Notably, they have successfully disbursed 100% of the preferential loan from the Sponsor, fulfilling their commitment to avoid capital loss.

Regarding the delay in project progress, the Quang Nam Provincial Project Management Board explained that the project had to follow the procedures and processes of the Sponsor, which took a significant amount of time. For instance, on March 26, 2019, the Management Board completed the contractor selection process and signed the construction contract, but it took a year until March 4, 2020, for the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA Bank to announce the validity of the contract. Additionally, natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic caused the project to halt construction twice.

Furthermore, at the end of the project, changes in the Environmental Protection Law required additional environmental procedures.

“Although most of the reasons are objective, the Quang Nam Provincial Project Management Board takes responsibility as the investor for not anticipating all the difficulties and obstacles and not timely reporting to the competent authorities for a one-time decision, resulting in multiple procedures and time consumption for related parties,” the report stated.

The Quang Nam Provincial Project Management Board stated that they need 13 months to carry out tasks such as test operations, completion acceptance, handover of the work for use, and finalization of the project settlement.

The investor is committed to completing the project before December 31, 2025, and has proposed that the People’s Committee of Quang Nam Province approve the extension of the implementation period.

In the report, based on the feedback from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, and legal regulations, the Department of Planning and Investment stated that the adjustment of the project implementation period is under the authority of the People’s Committee of Quang Nam Province. The Department requested the People’s Committee to consider reporting to the Provincial Party Committee as per regulations and allow the adjustment of the project implementation period to maximize investment efficiency.