Proposing the Central Government to support the settlement of drainage and environmental sanitation projects in Ba Don

(QBĐT) - The project "Drainage and urban environmental sanitation in Ba Don, Quang Binh province" uses ODA capital from the Danish Government, with the People's Committee of Quang Trach district as the investor. The project is at a standstill, the reason is that the contractor unilaterally terminated the contract from December 2021, but has not yet completed the contract termination procedures, while the funding agreement ended in 2022 and has not been extended.

Báo Quảng Bình•01/04/2025

The investment objective of the project is to build a drainage and environmental sanitation system for Ba Don urban area and some neighboring areas to improve urban environmental conditions, reduce environmental pollution, improve people's quality of life, contribute to promoting socio-economic development in the area and developing a stable and sustainable urban area.

The total investment of the project is over 14 million Euros; of which: Danish ODA loan is 8,980,000 Euros; non-refundable aid from the Danish Government is 978,676 Euros and counterpart capital is over 5 million Euros. The representative of the investor/manager of this project is the Quang Trach ODA Project Management Board; the construction contractor is the Suez Water A/S-Suez International JV consortium (Denmark).

The total capital allocated to the project is 269,708 million VND; the total implemented capital is 269,708 million VND, reaching 68% of the total investment (of which counterpart capital is 156,618 million VND; ODA capital is 113,090 million VND). The project implementation period is according to the investment decision (including adjustments), from 2008-2022.

The project aims to improve urban environmental conditions and reduce environmental pollution in Ba Don Town and surrounding areas.

The entire project has 2 construction packages, specifically: Package No. 1, design-construction and installation of equipment for the wastewater collection and treatment system (using Danish ODA capital), has been 67.3% completed; Package No. 2, construction of the Phooc-Xuan Hung bridge stormwater drainage channel, using counterpart capital, has been constructed and handed over for use since December 2017.

According to the investor representative, the project started on September 20, 2016 and was expected to be completed on September 20, 2019 (36 months). However, from July 19, 2019, the contractor reduced the project construction progress to request reasonable evidence of financial arrangements until the end of the project, including loan capital (Part A of the contract), non-refundable aid capital (Part B of the contract) and arising costs. The investor requested to adjust the investment policy, adjust the project, adjust the project implementation time, and the ODA capital disbursement time until December 31, 2022 and sent the evidence to the contractor, but the contractor still did not accept.

On October 15, 2021, the contractor issued a document unilaterally terminating the project construction contract for the following reasons: The contractor has the right to terminate the contract because the investor did not provide reasonable evidence of financial arrangements until the end of the project, including loan capital, non-refundable aid capital and arising capital while the volume as of October 15, 2021 only reached 67.3%.

Since then, the investor and the contractor have proceeded to terminate the contract, but the contract termination process has encountered many difficulties and obstacles. The main reason is due to financial problems between the construction subcontractor and the main contractor, leading to the subcontractor refusing to hand over the files and documents to the main contractor so that the main contractor can hand them over to the investor to agree on the contract termination, final financial balance and sign the contract liquidation minutes.

Currently, the parties have basically agreed on the final financial balance of the project and agreed on the contract termination plan to seek the opinion of the sponsor. At the same time, the investor is carrying out procedures to adjust the project's investment policy until July 2028 to be able to carry out the remaining volume, completing the project according to the approved goals. However, the sponsor is considering and has not yet had an official opinion on this issue.

It is known that the project "Drainage and urban environmental sanitation in Ba Don, Quang Binh province" is a project implemented under the Law on Public Investment, which is behind schedule, has long backlogs, and is ineffective in the province. Currently, the Provincial People's Committee is proposing to the Prime Minister and relevant ministries and branches to support and consult with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that the project can continue to be implemented for the remaining volume in order to complete the project according to the approved target.

Mr. Van

Source: https://baoquangbinh.vn/kinh-te/202504/kien-nghi-trung-uong-ho-tro-giai-quyet-du-an-thoat-nuoc-va-ve-sinh-moi-truong-o-ba-don-2225324/