Efforts to hand over the site for the National Highway 7 upgrade project

The project to upgrade National Highway 7 in Nghe An province is behind schedule due to many problems in site clearance.

Key projects behind schedule due to land acquisition issues

In November 2024, Giao thong Newspaper reporters were present at the National Highway 7 upgrading project, section Km0 - Km36, through Dien Chau and Yen Thanh districts.

Railway overpass - one of the bottlenecks in site clearance at National Highway 7 project.

According to records, the project is unfinished in many sections because there is no land for construction or land for handover, and short sections do not have enough land for completion of construction.

This situation has slowed down progress, seriously affected project efficiency, and caused waste of state investment capital.

The prolonged construction project also causes environmental pollution and poses many potential traffic accident risks for people and vehicles on the route.

According to the representative of Project Management Board 4, Vietnam Road Administration, the responsibility for compensation and site clearance of the project belongs to local authorities.

During the implementation process, the Provincial Party Committee and People's Committee of Nghe An province have issued many documents directing, urging and assigning a deadline for handing over the site to the investor so that the construction unit can complete the project. The site handover deadline has also been extended from mid-2023 to September 2024.

In parallel, the Minister of Transport and the Ministry of Transport also issued many documents and telegrams requesting the People's Committee of Nghe An province to pay attention to and resolutely direct the People's Committees of Dien Chau, Yen Thanh and Do Luong districts to focus on resolving the existing problems and land issues under their jurisdiction. In the most recent document, the Ministry of Transport requested the handover of the entire project site in September 2024.

However, by November 2024, only 53.927km/55.402km (97.34%) of the land has been handed over, including both the left and right routes. Currently, there are still 1.475km (including both the left and right routes) and 105 plots of land are affected (46 plots on the left route, 59 plots on the right route).

Specifically, Dien Chau district still has 657m in the communes of Dien Thanh, Dien Phuc, Dien Cat and Minh Chau; Yen Thanh district still has 818m in the communes of Vien Thanh, Bao Thanh, Cong Thanh and My Thanh. Do Luong district alone has 102m in the sidewalk category in Luu Son commune.

Mr. Bui Duy Son, Chief of Office of the National Assembly Delegation and People's Council of Nghe An province answered questions from Giao Thong Newspaper reporters at the press conference.

Identify constraints and limitations to create movement

Speaking with Giao thong Newspaper, a leader of Nghe An Department of Transport said that the project to upgrade National Highway 7, section Km0 - Km36, was assigned by the Provincial People's Committee to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, together with localities, to remove obstacles and difficulties to speed up compensation and site clearance work; and assigned the Department of Transport to synthesize and report.

According to the latest plan and commitment of the localities, the entire project site will be handed over to the investor by December 2024.

Mr. Bui Duy Son, Chief of Office of the National Assembly Delegation and People's Council of Nghe An province, said that based on the report of the Provincial People's Committee, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council has examined and identified the results achieved in 2024. In addition, the Provincial People's Council also proposed solutions for socio-economic development in 2025.

In which, the limitations and difficulties were frankly recognized, thereby identifying bottlenecks in the implementation of public investment projects in the province. Typically, projects that are behind schedule are not only due to lack of capital, but also due to slow site clearance.

“This is a very hot and difficult issue. The Provincial People's Committee has clearly identified this in its direction and management report, so it has been directing localities to overcome it,” said Mr. Son.

Mr. Son also said that, in addition to identifying difficulties and limitations, in the coming time, the Provincial People's Council will further strengthen supervision of the implementation of public investment projects, especially key projects of the Provincial People's Committee, thereby creating specific movements, aiming to bring the project to the finish line on schedule, promoting the effectiveness as set out.

The National Highway 7 project was approved by the Ministry of Transport in Decision No. 333 dated March 18, 2022. The total investment is more than 1,300 billion VND, with a total length of 27.5km passing through 3 districts: Dien Chau, Yen Thanh and Do Luong (Nghe An). The project is divided into 3 construction packages, with a total value of 778.724 billion VND.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2024, with the section from Km0 to Km5 (Dien Chau intersection to the expressway interchange) to be completed in 2023.

However, due to land issues, the construction value has only reached nearly 80%. Currently, Project Management Board 4 is submitting to the Vietnam Road Administration and the Ministry of Transport to adjust the project implementation time from 2024 to 2025.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/nghe-an-no-luc-ban-giao-mat-bang-du-an-nang-cap-ql7-192241129182149817.htm