The nearly 700 billion VND road project in Quang Ngai is struggling due to land acquisition problems.

The ground is deserted, the construction site is deserted.

Actual records along the main route of the Thach Bich - Tinh Phong road project show that the contractor has completed the roadbed, asphalt concrete, paved sidewalks, planted trees... but there are sections where the roadbed runs straight into people's houses because the site clearance has not been possible.

Land clearance problems have caused many problems for the Thach Bich - Tinh Phong road project.

At the section passing through Tinh An Tay commune, right at the starting point adjacent to National Highway 24B, the contractor completed the road surface, painted the road, and planted trees very systematically. However, after about 300m, the road was blocked because of houses.

From above, the entire 250m stretch of the project is packed with houses. Drainage pipes, supplies, and materials gathered by the contractor for the project are piled up haphazardly.

Many people said that for nearly a year the project has not made any progress, compensation and site clearance work is also at a standstill and people living in the project area do not know how to move on.

To continue north, the reporter had to turn back to Highway 24B and follow the route leading to Tinh An Tay craft village industrial cluster to return to the construction site. Like the first section of the route, here the contractor has basically completed the roadbed and gathered materials to wait for the site to be cleared for the remaining section.

However, after many months the site was not handed over, the contractor withdrew equipment and machinery to another location, so the construction site became deserted and covered with weeds.

The entire section of the route towards Tinh Phong commune, nearly 700m long, has been paved, but the remaining section is under construction in a haphazard manner. Along the route, there are many locations on the main road where construction is interrupted. In some locations, 2/3 of the lane has been constructed, while the remaining part has not been handed over by the people so it is left empty. To ensure traffic safety, the contractor has put up reflective tape or the homeowner has placed ornamental pots.

The contractor left the roadbed unfinished because the remaining surface was not completed.

Along the project site is a chaotic scene, the ground is not continuous. In particular, the biggest obstacle is the section passing through Tinh Phong commune when the entire route is more than 2km long and is still residential, no ground position has been handed over, so although the project is in the progress stage, everything is quiet as if there is no project passing through.

People whose houses are subject to compensation and relocation for project construction still live normally.

According to the report of the Quang Ngai Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board, the compensation and site clearance work of the project is carried out by the People's Committee of Quang Ngai City and Son Tinh District. Up to now, only nearly 3.6/6.1km has been handed over. Of which, Quang Ngai City has handed over nearly 2.3/3km. The section passing through Son Tinh District is only slightly over 1/3km (35%).

"From the beginning of the year to July 31, both localities have not handed over new clean land to contractors to start construction. The main reason is that the localities have not yet determined the land price to calculate compensation when the state reclaims land, the land price to collect land use fees in resettlement areas," said the leader of the Quang Ngai Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board.

Construction to welcome the congress but no one knows when it will be completed

Due to land issues, the project site seems to be at a standstill. Along the project, there is no sign of the contractor implementing the construction. In some locations, the contractor has left equipment on the site but there are no workers working.

Supplies and materials were gathered by the contractor at the construction site, but construction has been stopped for many months due to lack of land.

Up to now, the cumulative value of project implementation is about 188/408 billion VND, reaching 46% of the contract value. It is known that the project has been allocated about 532/694 billion VND. Of which, the capital plan for 2024 is 200 billion VND, from land use fee revenue.

Mr. Ngo Van Dung, Director of the Quang Ngai Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board, said that the entire project has 561 individual households and organizations affected. Up to now, the localities have only approved compensation plans for 353 cases, the remaining 208 households are mostly related to residential land and resettlement arrangements.

In addition to the problems with houses and land, the relocation of technical infrastructure is also facing difficulties as the implementation value is less than 60%. Along the route, there are still many 0.4kV power lines and public lighting systems.

Although the project progress is very slow and the contractor needs a site for construction, the work of building a specific land price list to serve as a basis for compensation and resettlement land arrangement established by the People's Committee of Quang Ngai City and Son Tinh District has not made much progress.

Accordingly, these two localities must report that they will hand over 100% of the clean site by March 31, 2025 at the earliest.

According to Mr. Dung, with the above time, it is not possible to ensure the time to organize the construction and completion of the entire project as the province's policy. Because the project was selected by the Provincial Party Committee as a project to celebrate the 21st Provincial Party Congress, scheduled to be held in October 2025.

If the localities hand over the site by the end of March 2025, the remaining time will be only 6 months, making it very difficult to organize construction and installation work, not to mention unexpected problems.

Contractors are waiting for land, but localities are still at ease, making investors worried.

"No later than December 31, localities must hand over the site so that contractors have enough time to complete the project to ensure quality and on schedule," said Mr. Dung.

In response to the project's progress requirements, recently, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province Nguyen Hoang Giang issued a document directing the People's Committee of Quang Ngai city, the People's Committee and Son Tinh district to focus on directing the resolution of problems related to compensation and site clearance of the project within their authority, promptly reporting problems beyond their authority to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment for synthesis.

Based on the reports of the units, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quang Ngai province presided over the consultation of the advisory group and the working group to unify the proposed content for the Provincial People's Committee to consider and resolve according to regulations.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/du-an-duong-gan-700-ty-o-quang-ngai-dung-banh-vi-vuong-mat-bang-192240820173954479.htm