The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport has just sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board (Traffic Board, investor) regarding speeding up progress and strengthening quality management for anti-landslide works on Thanh Da peninsula - section 3, Binh Thanh district.

According to the City Department of Transport, in May 2023, the unit, together with the investor and related units, conducted a surprise inspection of the quality management and progress of the Thanh Da peninsula landslide prevention project - section 3.

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An area of ​​Thanh Da canal bank where the embankment to prevent landslides is under construction. Photo: Nguyen Hue.

In package 11, at the time of inspection, the contractor did not have equipment, machinery, human resources, or materials to carry out the construction.

According to the report of the investor and the supervision consultant, the construction unit has completed 502/852 m of embankment and stopped construction since June 2022. Meanwhile, the site has been handed over since June 2022 but the construction unit has not arranged machinery, equipment, human resources and materials for implementation.

The City Department of Transport assessed that the project's progress was slower than scheduled, and the number of workers and construction machinery did not meet the requirements of the contractor's bidding documents. The delay in construction has affected the urgent goal of preventing landslides, ensuring the safety of lives and property, as well as technical infrastructure works (roads, electric poles, etc.) in the area.

In particular, this delay causes loss of confidence of households who have seriously complied and handed over the site for construction.

In addition, the City Department of Transport said that the unit has issued many documents reminding and correcting but so far the construction of the project has not changed. At the end of December 2023, this project was allocated capital of more than 170 billion VND, but with the current construction progress, it will not ensure disbursement according to plan.

Faced with the above situation, the HCM City Department of Transport requested the Transport Department to speed up progress and strengthen quality management for the project.

The investor urgently reviews the responsibility of the contractor and related units in the delay of construction, and handles it according to the terms of the contract and regulations of the law.

The City Traffic Department is responsible for the delay in construction leading to project adjustments (implementation time, design adjustments, total investment...).

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Concrete stakes are planted deep along the riverbank like traps, posing a danger to boats. Photo: Thanh Hue.

The Thanh Da Peninsula embankment and landslide prevention project is one of the key projects to prevent landslides on the Saigon River, approved for investment by the City People's Committee in 2006.

The project was officially launched in 2016, divided into 4 main phases (including 1,2,3,4). By the end of 2019, this project had only completed phase 1. Phases 2, 3, 4 with many large bid packages were still "inactive".

In addition to the above project, in June 2023, about 120m of the right bank of Thanh Da canal, about 50m from Kinh bridge, collapsed, forcing dozens of households here to urgently evacuate. The landslide area belongs to the embankment construction project put into use in 2008, after 15 years the incident occurred.

The City People's Committee has approved the project to build a new 478-meter embankment to replace the existing embankment that is sinking, with a total estimated investment of about 90 billion VND (excluding compensation and site clearance costs).

Relevant units are completing documents to send to the City People's Committee for consideration and submission to the City People's Council for approval of investment policy this year.

15 years of unfinished Thanh Da Peninsula Anti-Landslide Project Sections 2, 3, 4 with many large packages of Thanh Da Peninsula Anti-Landslide Project, Ho Chi Minh City still lie motionless. Here, there are wide open cracks, rusty piles, protruding from the water surface, creating traps for boats.