Breakthrough policy helps pay off "highway debt" for the Mekong Delta lowlands
Báo Dân trí•06/11/2024
(Dan Tri) - 6 years ago, many National Assembly delegates were concerned about the debt to the Mekong Delta when the expressway connecting here was still behind schedule after 10 years. But with strong policies, the promise of a highway for the West has been realized.
If you want to know if the transport infrastructure is developed or if there is a breakthrough, look to the West. Because when mentioning the Mekong Delta, many people will immediately think of a place that is considered a "lowland" in terms of transport infrastructure. Remember, during the 14th National Assembly term, Mr. Nguyen Van Giau, when he was still Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, in a questioning session with Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The at the National Assembly Standing Committee, quoted a satirical poem he read about the delay of the Western expressway projects: "Even if the Western expressway is built over and over again, it will never be completed". That poem was to talk about the delay in implementing the Trung Luong - My Thuan - Can Tho expressway projects, so according to Mr. Giau, the expressway for the Mekong Delta is still a "debt". Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The at that time also admitted that the Trung Luong - My Thuan expressway is one of the most important routes in the Mekong Delta, but after 10 years of implementation, it is still behind schedule. Mr. The promised that by the end of 2020, the Trung Luong - My Thuan expressway will basically be open to traffic, and the entire project will be completed in 2021. But that promise could not be fulfilled during the term. It will not be until the end of December 2023 that the My Thuan - Can Tho Expressway and My Thuan 2 Bridge will be inaugurated. On the wet alluvial layer of the Southwest region, the roads appear like the contours of rivers and streams. The roads cling to canals, winding along the canals. The Quan Lo - Phung Hiep road connecting directly from Hau Giang to Ca Mau also clings to the canal of the same name. During the colonial period, the French colonialists shaped National Highway 1 connecting Can Tho to Ca Mau, passing through the two provincial capitals of Soc Trang and Bac Lieu. The route turns through coastal cities, so it is up to 180km long. In the mid-2000s, Quan Lo - Phung Hiep road was built, creating a more direct traffic route from Can Tho to Ca Mau, from 180km down to 140km. But "small roads" are only "small riches", for the West to really take off, people need direct "boulevards". Since 2010, the 41km Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong expressway was inaugurated, the first expressway in Vietnam, and also the first link from Ho Chi Minh City to the West. At that time, few people imagined that the next section, Trung Luong - My Thuan, would take 13 years to complete. Westerners were a little sad to see the expressway open to traffic across the country, while projects in their homeland were always struggling. People blamed the weak soil in the West, having to add loads and build many bridges over canals, causing high investment costs and long construction times. The project is delayed, buses to Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau still have to creak on the national highway, many sections have only 2 lanes. Since the 13th Party Congress, the Government has identified the expressway as a strategic transport infrastructure. In the goal of completing 5,000km of expressway nationwide by 2050, the Southwest has 1,200km. By the end of 2023, with the inauguration of the My Thuan - Can Tho expressway and My Thuan 2 bridge, the expressway has reached the capital city of the Southwest, shortening the time from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho to only 2 hours instead of 3.5 hours as before. Up to now, the land south of the Hau River is still waiting for 2 big pieces: the North - South expressway section Can Tho - Ca Mau and the horizontal expressway section Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang. In particular, the Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway is the last piece of the expressway axis from Ho Chi Minh City to the southernmost province of the country, helping to shorten the distance from Can Tho to Ca Mau to 110km. "Crossing rivers by building bridges" is a slogan of the transport sector, but when compared to a land crisscrossed by canals like the Southwest, we can see how large the number of bridges that need to be built is. For example, the expressway from Can Tho to Ca Mau is 110km long but has 117 large and small bridges. Many bridges need to be built, and 100% of the sections with embankments must have weak soil treated. There have been arguments about the construction plan. Some people say "it's better to build overpasses along the entire route, so we don't have to worry about a lack of sand, and we don't have to waste time treating weak soil". In the end, the Ministry of Transport still chose the option of embanking the road and building overpasses. This option is 3 times more economical than building overpasses along the entire route, but many technical problems must be solved: where is the sand source for construction? How to treat weak soil? How to ensure progress? Due to weak geological foundation and annual alluvial deposits, almost 100% of the roadbed on the Can Tho - Ca Mau Expressway must be treated for subsidence. The treatment method is to fill the foundation, install absorbent wicks and add loading materials. The loading process to wait for subsidence lasts for a whole year. After that, the contractor proceeds to unload and construct the road surface structure. Lack of sand for filling and loading is a nightmare for expressway contractors in the Southwest. From the My Thuan - Can Tho project to the Can Tho - Hau Giang and Hau Giang - Ca Mau projects. River sand resources in the Mekong Delta are increasingly scarce. Exploitation is also limited due to riverbed erosion. Without sand, the goal of completing the Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway by 2025 is at risk of failure. During the difficult period, the Government has issued a breakthrough directive: Allowing the use of sea sand for highway construction. Mr. Nguyen Tri Dung, General Director of VNCN E&C Company, the contractor for the Hau Giang - Ca Mau expressway and the unit that owns the chain of sea sand exploitation and transportation for highway construction, shared his joy when the bottleneck was resolved. According to the policy, the use of sea sand is also limited to areas with similar geology (such as the Hau Giang - Ca Mau section). "At first, when we first started exploiting sea sand, we were also confused because of the many complicated procedures. Up to now, the enterprise has completely mastered the chain of exploiting, processing and transporting sea sand to the construction site," said Mr. Dung, adding that the volume of sea sand exploited is currently up to 30,000m3/day. Mr. Thai Truong Giang, Chairman of Hai Dang Group (contractor for the Hau Giang - Ca Mau expressway), also emphasized that it was the Prime Minister's strong direction that helped the contractor overcome the biggest difficulty when constructing the expressway in the West - which is the lack of sand materials. Representing the voice of businesses in the area considered a "lowland" in the development of transport infrastructure in Vietnam, Dr. Tran Khac Tam (Chairman of the Soc Trang Provincial Business Association, member of the 13th National Assembly) said that up to now, traffic in the Mekong Delta has improved significantly when national and provincial highways have been renovated and repaired; many modern bridges have been built, contributing to solving traffic problems and people's lives. According to the plan, by 2030, the Mekong Delta will have about 1,200km of expressways with 3 routes in the North - South and East - West directions, of which the goal is to complete 600km in this term and the remaining 600km in the next term. Along with Phu Quoc, Ca Mau, and Rach Gia airports, the expressways, when completed, will open up new development spaces for the region, according to Mr. Tam. He believes that the Mekong Delta region has many advantages and is facing a great opportunity to make a breakthrough if it has developed transport infrastructure. Reiterating the orientation that transportation must come first for socio-economic development, Dr. Tran Khac Tam expects that with 6 expressways that have been, are being, and will be started, the appearance of the Mekong Delta provinces will change completely. "When the connection between regions is implemented better and faster, the 6 expressways will certainly be 6 magnets, 6 "red carpets" inviting and attracting investment for the Mekong Delta region in general, and Soc Trang province in particular," Mr. Tam likened. In fact, he said that recently, the Western provinces have been and are extremely potential destinations for both domestic and foreign investors. Many foreign "eagles" have been bustling to Soc Trang, Ben Tre, Bac Lieu provinces... to choose land to "nest", showing that investors have found the strengths, potentials, and positions of the provinces in the region. Many years ago, Mr. Tam identified infrastructure as one of the major barriers to the development of agriculture, industry and tourism in the Mekong Delta provinces. For agriculture, to consume agricultural products, provinces in the Mekong Delta must transport them to Ho Chi Minh City, but poor transport infrastructure increases costs, pushes up product prices, and reduces competitiveness. For industry, many investors are hesitant to invest in an area with underdeveloped transport infrastructure. Similarly, for tourism, although the Mekong Delta has many potentials and advantages, it does not attract tourists well due to the lack of synchronous infrastructure. Therefore, completing the transport infrastructure system will open a new growth period for the provinces in the Mekong Delta. In addition to the role of designing policies and creating legal corridors of the National Assembly, delegate Trinh Xuan An (Standing Member of the National Defense and Security Committee) emphasized that the indispensable mark is the executive role of the Government and the Prime Minister. According to Mr. An, we not only have large traffic projects such as expressways, but we also have many other key projects such as Long Thanh airport, urban railways in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, or the North-South high-speed railway that is being promoted for implementation. "In a difficult context, we have been able to do so, in addition to the common sense of responsibility of the whole system, it also clearly shows the executive role and responsibility of the Government, especially of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh," Mr. An shared. He said that the Prime Minister's efforts are not only through instructions, documents, directives or telegrams, but also through specific actions when he regularly directly inspects and checks construction sites, encourages workers and urges project progress. These actions have a strong influence on ministries, branches and localities, causing many people who want to hesitate to not stand still and watch but have to roll up their sleeves and get to work. Delegate Trinh Xuan An said that such management and direction is flexible but also very decisive and responsible. With the establishment of the State Steering Committee for important national projects and works, key to the transport sector, Mr. An assessed that the Steering Committee meets once a month under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister to listen to reports on each specific figure, which is an important task in promoting the progress of the projects. Because the figures reported at the Steering Committee meetings are real figures in real space, the direction based on these figures is very close and effective. "Currently, the Government is operating in real space, real people, real work, real volume to produce real products," Mr. An said and cited the 500kV line with a huge amount of work that seemed impossible to complete but was completed early, thanks to the effective management of the Government. According to the delegate, the current context is different from before, so it is impossible not to do it and it is impossible to slow down. With the Government's determination in management, if it is slow, it is a mistake to the Party and the people. "The Government's working and management methods are determined but scientific. I, like many National Assembly deputies, feel that the Government has confidence when the entire political system accompanies it, the National Assembly supports it in terms of mechanism, and the people expect it. The Government's confidence should spread to ministries, branches and localities," Mr. An assessed. Typically, in the implementation of a series of key transport projects, Mr. An acknowledged that the Ministry of Transport shouldered a huge amount of work but made great efforts, without complaining, and without dependence between the ministry and localities. That created synchronization and cooperation between the Central and local governments. The role of localities in implementing transport projects this term is also clearly demonstrated. Although there is still a story of pushing and fear of responsibility, according to Mr. An, in implementing key transport projects, localities are very determined, imbued with the guiding ideology "whoever does not do it, stand aside". "I have never seen a time when localities coordinate so smoothly and responsibly," Mr. An shared. According to him, the National Assembly grants the mechanism, the Government directs, and localities play a very important role in implementing technical logistics, site clearance, and preparing materials for infrastructure projects. Delegate Pham Van Thinh (Bac Giang) shared the same opinion that the results in implementing transport infrastructure projects since the beginning of the term have been achieved, the decisive factor is the determination, fierceness, offensive spirit, passion, and responsibility to the people, the Party, and the nation of the Government, headed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. The delegate commented that the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers are truly exemplary models of determination and effort for the people and the country; always constantly innovating, closely accompanying and listening to the people, overcoming all difficulties to conquer milestones for the first time in the history of the country's strategic transport infrastructure development.
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