The Infrastructure Boom in the South-Eastern Region: Stepping into a New Era with Full Force

According to Mr. Vo Tan Duc, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Dong Nai Province, the local government deeply understands the importance of investing in infrastructure development to promote the province’s socio-economic growth and regional connectivity. As a result, the province has been maximizing its resources to implement key transport infrastructure projects, such as the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau Expressway and Ho Chi Minh City’s Ring Road 3.

Close Coordination

Mr. Vo Tan Duc emphasized that the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau Expressway and Ho Chi Minh City’s Ring Road 3 are vital transport projects for the country and the province. Therefore, the People’s Committee has instructed relevant units and individuals to ensure the timely completion of these projects. Regarding land clearance for the expressway, the current progress meets the construction requirements of contractors and construction units.

As the investor for the Ring Road 3 project in Dong Nai Province and Component 1 of the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau Expressway, Mr. Ngo The An, Director of the Provincial Traffic Infrastructure Project Management Board, shared that land clearance has been a challenge during the project’s implementation.

In their role as the project investor, the unit not only continues to strengthen on-site inspection and supervision, urging contractors and consultants to accelerate progress and establish disbursement plans for each item and package of the projects, but also coordinates with the People’s Committees of local districts and the Provincial Land Development Center to expedite the handover of construction sites.

Mr. Ho Van Nam, Secretary of the Bien Hoa City Party Committee, requested that the units and localities of the city continue to closely coordinate with the provincial departments to focus on resolving outstanding issues related to land clearance. For households eligible for resettlement land allocation, a land allocation lottery will be organized before the Lunar New Year.

For ineligible cases that have completed all steps as per regulations in compensation and support, the locality and the Project Management Board, along with related sectors, will plan for a synchronized forced eviction after the Lunar New Year to expedite the construction site handover.

Regarding filling materials, in December 2004, the People’s Committee of Dong Nai Province granted a license for an additional site with a reserve of nearly 1 million cubic meters of filling soil to serve the construction of the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau Expressway.

The Central Construction Group Joint Stock Company, the contractor for Component 2 of the project, has an area of over 13 hectares for filling material extraction in Phuoc Binh commune, Long Thanh district. The total permitted reserve of filling material to serve the expressway construction at this site is over 989,000 cubic meters of intact soil (nearly 1.2 million cubic meters of raw soil). The maximum extraction capacity is 300,000 cubic meters of intact soil per month.

Previously, the province also licensed Lizen Company, the contractor for Component 1, to extract filling soil at a site in Tam Phuoc ward, Bien Hoa city, with a reserve of about 200,000 cubic meters to serve the expressway construction.

Flexible Policy Application

In the past, the leaders of Binh Duong Province have been anxious about the progress of the Ring Road 3 project in Thuan An City. The Provincial Party Secretary and Chairman of the People’s Committee have directly surveyed, worked with local authorities, investors, contractors, and people to expedite the project.

Mr. Nguyen Van Loi, Secretary of the Binh Duong Provincial Party Committee, requested that the localities through which Ring Road 3 passes continue to mobilize the entire political system, actively propagate, mobilize, and persuade the people to agree with the Party and State’s policies. At the same time, they should apply all policies to support people whose land is revoked, especially households that are completely cleared, and promptly remove difficulties to soon arrange resettlement for some households.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Vinh, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province, shared that to address difficulties in implementing transport infrastructure projects, the locality combines comprehensive and synchronous solutions. Specifically, they organize meetings with the people, widely disseminating information about the project’s purpose and benefits, and the policies to support affected people. They also apply a transparent and public mechanism for compensation, support, and resettlement, in accordance with the law, to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of the people.

Thanks to these efforts, most transport connectivity projects in the province have been on schedule, especially in terms of site clearance, ensuring that construction units have access to cleared land.

Regarding the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau Expressway, the Government has allowed the Ministry of Transport and the provinces of Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Dong Nai to apply special mechanisms during the project’s implementation. This includes delegating the People’s Committee of Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province as the investor for the section passing through the province, with the authority to directly appoint contractors for packages of Component 3. Additionally, they are exempt from the procedure for granting mineral mining licenses for common construction minerals, enabling the province to proactively manage the supply of raw materials and determine the responsibilities of contractors as prescribed.

The Prime Minister has also allowed the simultaneous implementation of procedures to shorten the time for completing tasks. The Minister of Transport, the Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province, and authorized persons organize land revocation, compensation, support, and resettlement, applying the method of direct appointment of contractors in 2022 and 2023 for consulting and construction packages related to the components and packages serving the relocation of technical infrastructure, compensation, site clearance, and resettlement.

According to the leaders of Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province, for construction packages of the components (excluding packages for technical infrastructure relocation, compensation, site clearance, and resettlement), the direct appointment of contractors is accompanied by a requirement to save at least 5% of the package’s estimated value (excluding contingency funds)…

Mr. Nguyen Cong Vinh shared that the application of direct appointment has shortened the time by about 94 days in the process of selecting contractors, ensuring the project’s commencement and completion schedule compared to open bidding.