There are key projects that have changed their investment certificates 8 times.

(NLDO) - Many delegates of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Council said that key projects had their investment certificates extended and changed too many times.

On the afternoon of December 13, sitting in the "hot seat" to answer questions at the 24th Session of the 18th Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Council on the progress of implementing a number of direct investment projects, especially large-scale, key projects of the province, which is still slow and has not met the set progress requirements, Mr. Le Minh Nghia, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment (DPI), said that in the province, there are 23 large-scale, key projects being implemented, with a total investment of about 74,208 billion VND. Of these, only 7 projects ensure progress.

Mr. Le Minh Nghia, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Thanh Hoa province. Photo: Minh Hieu

Raising the issue of delayed projects, some of which are delayed by up to 20 years, delegates asked the Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Thanh Hoa province to clearly state the reasons for the delay, and at the same time, to clarify the reasons and provide solutions for investors to put the projects into operation soon.

Delegate Do Ngoc Duy, Deputy Head of the Economic - Budget Committee of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Council (Nga Son District Delegate Group), said that there are many projects behind schedule, including investors not wanting to implement the project, giving many reasons to "intentionally" prolong the time.

"There are many projects in the process of implementation, there are adjustments to investment policies, investment certificates, planning... so the time is extended a lot. In particular, there is a project that has changed its investment policy certificate 8 times, that is the project to renovate and expand the production line 1 of Cong Thanh cement project. Please clarify the reason for the project's multiple adjustments" - delegate Do Ngoc Duy stated.

Delegates questioned the Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Thanh Hoa province.

Mr. Le Minh Nghia said that in terms of legal regulations, during the implementation process, investors have the right to adjust the investment policy and adjust the investment registration certificate if it is within the provisions of the Investment Law. Mr. Nghia also affirmed that if there is a project that is adjusted to extend the time, it will not be allowed. "When adjusting, there must be a reason and only objective reasons will be agreed to," Mr. Nghia affirmed.

Delegate Nguyen Ngoc Tuy, Deputy Head of the Propaganda Department of Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee (Thuong Xuan District Delegate Group), raised questions about the slow progress of 3 waste treatment projects in the area, in particular, the waste treatment project in Bim Son town, which started in 2004, has been ongoing for 20 years, but it is not known when it will be completed and put into operation.

"What is the real cause of the long delay and failure to complete the three waste treatment projects? At the same time, please provide solutions to quickly complete and put the projects into operation to handle the environmental pollution situation in the area?" - Mr. Tuy asked.

Delegate Nguyen Ngoc Tuy asked a question.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Le Minh Nghia said that the project that was 20 years behind schedule in Bim Son has now been resolved, the investor is implementing and committed to putting it into operation by 2025, while the waste treatment plant in Sam Son City, although delayed, is not yet subject to revocation, but the province has issued many directive documents, if there are violations of land, it will be repossessed.

Many delegates also pointed out that many projects are behind schedule due to site clearance work, so what are the causes and solutions to resolve them?

According to the Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Thanh Hoa province, through assessment, it is found that the site clearance work is not thorough, the easy areas are cleared first, the difficult areas are left behind, so there are projects that have not been cleared for 10 years. "Because the site has not been cleared completely, the project progress is slow and prolonged. This is because our management and operation work has not been done resolutely from the beginning" - Mr. Nghia stated the reality.

Mr. Le Tien Lam, Permanent Vice Chairman of the People's Council of Thanh Hoa province, asked questions and requested further clarification on the project's long delay and multiple extensions. The Director of the Department of Planning and Investment and the representative of the Nghi Son Economic Zone Management Board both said that it was in accordance with legal regulations.

Delegates attending the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Council meeting

"The extension is in accordance with the regulations, but every 24 months it is extended again, to ensure that the investor is not procrastinating before extending. But with such continuous extensions, can we ensure that the investor is really enthusiastic about doing it? Every time it is extended, then changed, it will be delayed again, some projects are delayed up to 20 years as the delegate mentioned. This needs to be clarified" - delegate Le Tien Lam raised the issue.

Responding to the continuous project extension, Mr. Nghia said that only extensions can be made based on the provisions of the law and objective reasons. If the project has been allocated land but is behind schedule, it will be implemented according to the provisions of the Land Law. If it is 24 months late and then extended for another 24 months but is still slow, it will be recovered.

"Regarding projects that have not been allocated land, the Department of Planning and Investment will review. If they violate the investment policy and do not complete the documents and procedures within the time limit, the province will be reported to revoke and terminate them. From 2021 to now, the department has reviewed and revoked 11 projects. For projects that have been allocated land, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible for reviewing whether the land use is guaranteed or not. Regarding the specific waste treatment project in Bim Son that has been taking too long, we will have a separate report explaining each adjustment," said Mr. Nghia.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/co-du-an-trong-diem-8-lan-thay-doi-giay-chung-nhan-dau-tu-196241213175243705.htm