No agreement on scale and capital plan
The Ring Road 4 project has a total length of 206.8km, passing through 5 provinces and cities. Of which, the section in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province is 18.7km long, Dong Nai is 45.6km, Binh Duong is 47.45km, Ho Chi Minh City is 17.3km and Long An is 78.3km.
Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan speaks at a meeting to gather opinions from leaders of provinces and cities on the investment plan for Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 4 on February 22.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport is the unit in charge of synthesizing route research data and financial plans to submit to the Southeast Regional Council and the Ministry of Transport for review before submitting to the National Assembly for approval in 2024.
Speaking with Giao Thong Newspaper reporters, Mr. Tran Quang Lam, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, said that localities are preparing pre-feasibility study reports for the route sections.
In phase 1, the project is designed with a road width of 22 - 27m, including 4 lanes, a hard median strip and 2 emergency lanes. The total investment for this phase is about 106,000 billion VND. Of which, the construction cost is 33,095 billion VND, the site clearance cost is 47,258 billion VND, and the project management and consulting costs are about 25,611 billion VND.
General policy, State budget capital (including central capital and local capital) participates 50%, the rest calls for PPP investment.
After many years of coordination between 5 localities and 3 consulting units, the project proposed two investment implementation plans. Plan 1, localities act as competent authorities to implement component projects on the route section through their province.
Option 2, combine the entire route into one project, submit to the National Assembly for approval of investment policy.
According to Giao thong Newspaper, localities have signed contracts with 3 consulting units including: Transport Design Consulting Corporation (Tedi), Southern Transport Design Consulting Joint Stock Company (Tedi South), and A2Z Construction Consulting Joint Stock Company.
Because each locality has its own consultant, there are differences in lane width and hard dividers. The expected investment payback period for each component project is also different.
For example, in Long An, the route is up to 78.3km long, with a total investment of up to 47,068 billion VND. The local leader said that the local budget could not be balanced, and even participating at 50% was difficult to arrange, so the Central Government proposed to support 90%.
Due to funding difficulties, the proposed cross-sectional area of the route through each locality is not yet unified. The cross-sectional area through Long An is only 22m wide, while the section through Ba Ria - Vung Tau is 27m wide, Dong Nai is 22m wide, Binh Duong is 24.75m wide, and Ho Chi Minh City is 25.5m wide.
Need special mechanism
Analyzing the options, Mr. Tran Quang Lam said that if option 1 is applied, four localities including Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria - Vung Tau have enough authority to approve the investment policy. As for the section through Long An, because the project belongs to group A, the localities do not have enough capital so they must ask for the policy from the Central Government.
Ho Chi Minh City is adjusting the direction of Ring Road 4 away from residential areas to help save on site clearance costs.
If this option is chosen, the project can start construction in 2025 and complete the entire route in 2028. The section that is completed first will be put into operation first.
For option 2, the investment process is more favorable because it is easy to unify the contents of investment scale, connection solutions between provinces, and submit to the National Assembly for approval of the investment policy at once. The disadvantage is that the total investment is very large, it is difficult to find investors with enough financial capacity and experience for the entire project.
Option 2 also means that localities must liquidate contracts signed with old consulting units and sign new contracts with a consulting unit to implement the entire project. This makes it difficult for the project progress to meet the expectation of starting construction in 2025.
Mr. Tran Quang Lam said that after discussing with leaders of the Department of Transport of the provinces, they agreed to propose continuing research according to option 1.
However, to implement this plan, there needs to be a specific mechanism and policy applied to each locality, approved by the National Assembly. Specifically, the provincial People's Committee is the owner, is allowed to use local budgets and other legal capital to make investments, and is allowed to use local budgets to support other localities.
The central budget supports Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau with 50% of the total budget capital participating in the project.
For Long An province alone, the central budget supports 90% because this locality is facing difficulties. Allowing the proportion of State capital participating in the project not to exceed 70% of the total project investment (instead of only 50%); allowing the appointment of contractors for consulting packages, relocation of technical infrastructure, compensation, resettlement support, etc.
In addition, there needs to be a mechanism for exploiting minerals as common construction materials, a mechanism for managing projects after investment and settling investment capital.
The HCM City Department of Transport also proposed that the Ministry of Transport unify the selection of a common consulting unit for the entire route. On that basis, it is necessary to unify the scale, common technical standards, and investment phases of the projects in each locality, avoiding the situation where each locality has its own style because each locality has its own consultant.
In a recent working session with localities to grasp the progress of completing the pre-feasibility study report of Ring Road 4, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan also requested agencies under the Ministry of Transport such as the Department of Roads, the Department of Construction Investment Management, and the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development to advise the Ministry, urgently complete the detailed planning, analyze traffic flow through the route, and work with localities to compare and review the planning.
In particular, the Deputy Minister noted that it is necessary to fully assess the current status of existing industrial parks and residential areas along the route in order to arrange suitable intersections.
Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, said that it is necessary to soon have a general consulting unit to support localities in reviewing each section and developing a common financial plan. "Ho Chi Minh City will work day and night with localities to complete the pre-feasibility study report to submit to the National Assembly by the middle of this year," Mr. Mai said.
Ho Chi Minh City: Adjusting route to avoid residential areas
A representative of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City said that they are coordinating with the People's Committee of Cu Chi district to update the locations of agricultural land in the area where the Ring Road 4 route is adjusted.
Previously, Ring Road 4 overlapped with Bau Lach, Nguyen Thi Ranh, Trung Viet, Cao Thi Beo... (Cu Chi district), and about 1,150 cases would be affected. The latest adjustment plan only affects about 486 cases. The new adjusted route mostly goes through agricultural land, minimizing the route through existing residential areas. Therefore, the volume of land clearance and compensation costs are low.
This adjustment helps shorten the investment implementation time, creating conditions for exploiting land funds along the route (estimated at about 590 hectares) to generate revenue for the Ho Chi Minh City budget, contributing to the expansion and development of industrial parks, services, and new urban areas along both sides of the route.
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