Lao Cai – Vinh Yen 500kV Transmission Line Part 2: Bright spots in site clearance work, gaining people's consensus

Many households affected by the 500kV Lao Cai-Vinh Yen transmission line project are ready to carry out site clearance to implement the project - Photo: VGP/Toan Thang

There are still difficulties in site clearance.

Regarding the difficulties in site clearance for the Lao Cai - Vinh Yen 500 kV transmission line project as of mid-April, Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, Deputy Director of Power Project Management Board 1, said that this project spans the provinces of Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho and Vinh Phuc. The customs and practices of local people in many places are very different.

Citing a specific example in site clearance, according to the representative of the Power Project 1 Management Board, the 500 kV Lao Cai – Vinh Yen transmission line project is located near the graves of local people, while their custom when moving graves is to choose a day and perform a ceremony that takes a lot of time. This will affect the site clearance progress in the area and the overall site compensation progress of the project.

Or in some locations, to get to the construction site, the investor's representative, the contractor, and the local government had to meet and negotiate many times with people who had ponds, gardens, and trees to borrow temporary roads for construction.

After approval, the construction unit will move all the trees in the garden to another place, fill in the pond and must restore the original state of the trees in the garden and dig the pond for the people as before. The contractor must bear all these costs.

Regarding the issue of negotiating compensation for trees when opening temporary roads, Mr. Thanh said that in reality, the price of trees is compensated according to state regulations, but there are cases where negotiating with people is very difficult because the actual value of the trees is higher than the regulated price. This is also a big challenge.

To solve this problem, Power Project Management Board 1 has assigned experienced staff to work with local authorities and work directly with people in negotiating compensation.

Recognizing the difficulties in construction and transportation of materials, equipment and machinery during the rainy season, Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) as well as Power Project Management Board 1 requested the design consultant to calculate additional solutions for contractors to expand temporary roads and prevent slipping during construction.

In difficult terrain locations, priority is given to supplying steel columns and equipment first. Immediately after having columns, taking advantage of favorable weather conditions, the steel column supplier coordinates with the construction contractor to transport and assemble columns and materials and accessories to the foundation location so that the columns can be erected as soon as conditions are met.

Right from the start of the project, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of EVN, Deputy General Director of EVN in charge of the project and leaders of Power Project Management Board 1 continuously supervised and directly inspected the construction site to urge, understand the difficulties and problems and requested the Frontline Boards to assign people in charge, assist, and coordinate with the contractor to work with local authorities and people so that compensation and site clearance can be as smooth and quick as possible.

"These are very correct solutions that have been implemented right from the beginning. Hopefully with such determination, the project will be completed on time according to the Prime Minister's direction," Mr. Thanh affirmed.

Although more than 600 square meters of residential land were affected by the Lao Cai - Vinh Yen 500kV transmission line project, the family of veteran Le Viet Khoa in Yen Kien commune, Doan Hung district, Phu Tho province was very unanimous in carrying out the site clearance work to serve the project - Photo: VGP/Toan Thang

Maximize people's consensus in site clearance

The 500 kV line passing through Phu Tho province is over 41 km long, has 94 pole foundation locations (from location 275 to 369), and passes through 3 districts: Doan Hung, Thanh Ba and Phu Ninh.

Given the urgent nature of this power line project, site clearance and relocation of related households must be carried out in a very short time, which can disrupt the lives of affected households.

However, when learning about the actual project site clearance work, many affected households were willing to give up their land for construction.

Yen Kien Commune, Doan Hung District, Phu Tho Province is a locality that has been doing a very good job of site clearance and compensation due to the effective and decisive participation of the government and the consensus and support of people in the area affected by the project.

Veteran Ngo Viet Khoa, 62 years old, Yen Kien commune, Doan Hung district, Phu Tho province shared: "This is a major policy of the state, we do not need to mobilize to support, we are ready to relocate, give up land so that the project can be completed on schedule."

Mr. Khoa's family has a residential land area of ​​over 600 square meters, which is the location of the foundation pit at position 313 of the project. Although he had just recovered from illness and had to go to the hospital for an IV, this veteran and his family created the most favorable conditions for the team of officials to count trees, crops, and assets on the land to carry out compensation and site clearance work.

Mr. Ngo Viet Khoa said that his family has lived on the land since the 80s of the last century. Although there are many memories associated with this land and everything can be disrupted when moving to a new place. However, Mr. Khoa confided: "The spirit of the people is still comfortable with the spirit of all for the collective. In area 9, we have 5 affected households, all 5 households are ready to hand over the land."

Mr. Dang Quoc Huy (standing in the middle) has 643 square meters of land on the road to build an agricultural materials store that is affected by the Lao Cai - Vinh Yen 500kV transmission line project, but he still agrees, supports and coordinates with the local site clearance compensation inspection team - Photo: VGP/Toan Thang

The family of Mr. Dang Quoc Huy, born in 1985, also in Yen Kien commune, has 643 square meters of land on the road and is currently running an agricultural supplies store with a relatively stable number of customers.

Although he is still worried about product consumption and family income in the new place, Mr. Huy still agrees and supports the government's policy of reclaiming his family's land to implement the project.

On April 12, Mr. Huy's family, together with local authorities, counted and completed land recovery procedures and prepared a relocation plan to hand over the route corridor to the Investor.

Mr. Pham Minh Thu, a cadastral officer of Yen Kien commune, Doan Hung district, Phu Tho province, said that implementing the 500 kV Lao Cai - Vinh Yen transmission line project, in Yen Kien commune there are 16 column foundation locations.

When the project was implemented, the locality and the compensation council held a meeting with households to disseminate the policy on compensation and site clearance for the project. Currently, the foundation sites have been cleared and handed over to the construction unit.

Regarding the power line corridor passing through the commune, professional staff are conducting a count and receiving the consensus and support of the people. During the count, local people responded very positively and were willing to cooperate with the functional units to complete the procedures for handing over the site. Therefore, up to now, the site clearance work in Yen Kien commune has been on schedule and fast.

"Currently, the column foundation positions have been handed over to the construction unit. As for the route corridor, we are working with the construction unit to count and will complete it this April," said Mr. Thu.

Mr. Tran Duy Tuong, Head of the Counting Team in Yen Kien commune, said that the affected households basically support the implementation of this project, and enthusiastically cooperate in the counting so that the unit can develop a plan for compensation, support and resettlement for households affected by the route corridor.

"The workload is large, so commune officials have worked on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Currently, in Doan Hung district, the counting teams are working in the 5th commune out of 6 communes where the project passes through," Mr. Tuong shared.

According to the representative of the Counting Team, in reality, compensation and site clearance at the Lao Cai - Vinh Yen 500 kV transmission line project still faces some difficulties because there are households with insufficient awareness, so they have built structures that show signs of profiteering from the project. However, when the authorities and local governments have communicated, the households have understood and voluntarily dismantled the illegal structures.

Currently, there are 50 anchoring areas in Phu Tho province. As of April 8, Phu Tho province has conducted an inventory to establish a compensation, support and resettlement plan for 38 anchoring areas.

It is expected that the work of counting and handing over the corridor site will be completed this April.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Ha, Power Project Management Board 1, managing package 9 in Vinh Phuc province, said that in March, the unit handed over the entire site to the contractor to construct 48/48 locations.

In the route of package 9, there are about 5 to 7 locations that are partially occupied by land borrowed from the construction road due to forestry land, so the forest rangers are implementing a plan to collect forest products according to regulations. There are a few locations where the foundation has different geology and weak ground, such as location 416 in Thai Hoa commune, Lap Thach district, Vinh Phuc province, whose design has been adjusted promptly.

Site clearance is always a difficult problem in power transmission projects, especially projects with urgent progress requirements such as the 500 kV Lao Cai - Vinh Yen line. However, thanks to the mobilization of the entire political system, active propaganda and advocacy on the major policies of the Party and State, this project has been receiving consensus from the people.

With the results in site clearance and the great determination of the investor and contractors, we believe that this particularly important project will be completed on time as directed by the Prime Minister.

Toan Thang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/duong-day-500kv-lao-cai-vinh-yenbai-2-diem-sang-trong-cong-tac-giai-phong-mat-bang-tranh-thu-su-dong-thuan-cua-nguoi-dan-10225041811095695.htm