Mr. Phan Truong Thanh, Head of Finance and Planning Department, Hanoi Department of Transport (GTVT) said that Tu Lien Bridge is an important traffic project of the Capital, the bridge is part of the capital's traffic planning and is also an important traffic project in Program 03 - CTr/TU of the Hanoi Party Committee on urban embellishment, urban development and urban economy of Hanoi in the period of 2021 - 2025.
However, according to the medium-term public investment plan of Hanoi City for the period 2021-2025, it only raises the issue of preparing investment work, as a basis for organizing bidding, there is no specific plan to determine the time of commencement at this time. Whether or not to commence construction depends on the procedures and progress of researching investment plans.
Recently, the Department of Transport has coordinated with China's Pacific Group to study the Tu Lien Bridge project under the PPP method, EPC+F contract type. The bridge has a total length of 11.5km, including 5km of approach roads and main bridge, in addition to 6km connecting from Highway 5 to Hanoi-Thai Nguyen Expressway. The total investment of the whole project is 22,000 billion VND.
However, the EPC+F contract model is a new model, and the Law on Investment under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) method has not yet defined this model, making it difficult to implement.
At the most recent meeting in early September, the Hanoi People's Committee announced that it would hand over the project to the Department of Planning and Investment and the Department of Transport to study public investment in the Tu Lien Bridge project. However, the city's capital will invest in the main bridge and the approach roads at both ends of the bridge, while the section from Highway 5 to the Hanoi-Thai Nguyen Expressway will be assigned to the Dong Anh District People's Committee as the investor.
“Thus, according to the city’s 2021-2025 medium-term public investment roadmap and plan, the capital source for the construction of Tu Lien Bridge has not been determined at this time. At this stage, Tu Lien Bridge is on the list of investment projects but is only at the preparation stage,” said Mr. Thanh.
According to Mr. Thanh, the fastest forecast, the most favorable progress steps will be the end of 2025 to complete the procedures and investment policies. Because the investment preparation process for a large project is very complicated, from design consulting, construction to bidding... Besides, another big reason is that it depends on the balance of capital sources of the city.
At the same time, the city is also implementing many large transport infrastructure projects, especially the Ring Road 4 project. In addition, a series of weak bridges and temporary bridges urgently need investment and upgrading, especially after the recent storm No. 3 caused the Phong Chau bridge on National Highway 32C to collapse, causing great loss of life, property and damage to the structure of state works.
Me So Bridge, Hong Ha Bridge on Ring Road 4, Van Phuc Bridge, Ngoc Hoi Bridge, Thuong Cat Bridge... Of which, Thuong Cat Bridge and Van Phuc Bridge have completed and are completing investment policies. Thus, Tu Lien Bridge and Tran Hung Dao Bridge in terms of investment progress are still behind a series of bridge projects mentioned above.
In particular, the city is currently assigning the Department of Transport to change the investment policy for Tran Hung Dao bridge, from PPP investment to public investment, and thus must balance the capital source. Hanoi City has determined that it must arrange the order of investment, prioritize investment capital allocation, and not allow for widespread investment but must invest with key focus, and invest completely in the project. The investment procedures of the project that is completed first will be prioritized for investment implementation first.
According to the reporter's information, on September 4, 2024, Him Lam Joint Stock Company sent a document to the Hanoi People's Committee requesting to stop the work of preparing a pre-feasibility study report for the Tran Hung Dao bridge construction project.
Accordingly, the leader of Him Lam Joint Stock Company said that for the 2 investment options for Tran Hung Dao Bridge: option 1, if the BOT project is invested in accordance with regulations, the State budget capital accounts for 50% and the investor 50%, there is no capital repayment period for the investor;
Option 2: If the payback period is 26 years, the capital source ratio will be 70.4% for the budget and 29.65% for the investor, which is contrary to the provisions of the current Law.
Therefore, Him Lam Joint Stock Company found that the investment in the Tran Hung Dao Bridge project under the PPP method, the BOT contract type, is not in accordance with the PPP Law. Him Lam Joint Stock Company requested Hanoi City to allow Him Lam to stop preparing the project's pre-feasibility study report and hand over to Hanoi City all the researched documents on the Tran Hung Dao Bridge project so that the City can continue to research investment in another more feasible form.
Comment (0)