Maximum decentralization for local management of national highways

On the morning of October 29, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha worked with ministries and branches to give opinions on the draft of three decrees in the field of road traffic.

Building criteria for decentralized national highways

Specifically, the draft Decree detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Road Law, Article 77 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety; the draft Decrees stipulating the list of dangerous goods, transportation of dangerous goods and the order and procedures for granting licenses and certificates of completion of training programs for drivers or escorts transporting dangerous goods on roads; on driver training and testing activities.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha requested the Ministry of Transport to develop criteria to determine which national highways are decentralized to localities or fall under the Ministry's management (Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi).

The Draft Decree detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Road Law, Article 77 of the Road Traffic Safety Law has 9 chapters and 71 articles.

The breakthrough point in the draft decree is to promote decentralization and delegation in investment in developing road infrastructure and in management, exploitation, use and maintenance of road infrastructure.

The drafting agency has received comments on the procedures for submitting to the Prime Minister to assign the provincial People's Committee to manage national highways; clarifying cases of temporary use of roadways and sidewalks for purposes other than road traffic.

In addition, the Ministry of Transport has explained regulations on road traffic safety assessment and evaluation, training of assessors, granting of certificates of road traffic safety assessors; road database; intelligent traffic management system.

Some opinions of the Ministry of Justice said that the Law does not assign, but the Decree stipulates: assigning localities to manage some national highway sections, the Decree stipulates the procedures for implementation.

With this content, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the principle of maximum decentralization to localities. The Ministry of Transport is responsible for inspecting, checking, and supervising the management, operation, exploitation, and maintenance of national highways in localities; "taking overall care" of the national road network, directly managing and investing in important and vital highways and national highways related to ensuring national defense and security...

The Ministry of Transport needs to develop criteria to determine which national highways are decentralized to localities or fall under the Ministry's management.

"The Ministry of Transport must persistently specify new points in the law," said the Deputy Prime Minister.

Regarding regulations on investment in the construction of rest stops on highways, the Deputy Prime Minister noted that investment in rest stops needs to be regulated right from the planning, design, and approval of highway investment projects, including scale and distance to ensure driving safety, architectural standards, environmental sanitation, and service provision for people and vehicles, etc.

Plans to mobilize social resources (from highway investors, bidding, public investment, private management, etc.) must be public and transparent.

"Rest stations are an indispensable part of highway infrastructure," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Inheriting good practices

Regarding the draft Decree regulating the list of dangerous goods, transportation of dangerous goods and procedures for granting licenses and certificates of completion of training programs for drivers or escorts transporting dangerous goods on roads, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Road Administration Phan Thi Thu Hien said that the draft basically inherits the entire content of Decree No. 34/2024/ND-CP regulating the list of dangerous goods, transportation of dangerous goods by road motor vehicles and inland waterway vehicles.

The only problem that arises is that the authority to grant licenses for transporting dangerous goods of type 5 and type 8 (belonging to the group of chemical goods) was previously assigned to the Ministry of Science and Technology (since 2009).

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha listened to reports and gave opinions on the draft decree on the transportation of dangerous goods and the draft decree on driver training (Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi).

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the drafting agency to refer to the provisions of specialized laws related to management authority in the chemical sector; review to ensure compatibility with relevant provisions of the Law on Civil Defense.

Reporting on the draft Decree regulating driver training and testing activities, Ms. Hien said that the draft inherits 10 administrative procedures and adds 2 new administrative procedures.

The Deputy Prime Minister has given his opinion on the regulations on facilities, apparatus, and organization of driving training facilities that are not required to be vocational training facilities; conditions and standards for driving practice teachers...

The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Public Security to coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to review and ensure that the regulations in the draft Decree on driver training are compatible with the laws on road traffic safety and order, vocational training, etc.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/phan-cap-toi-da-de-dia-phuong-quan-ly-quoc-lo-bo-gtvt-cham-lo-tong-the-mang-luoi-duong-bo-192241029175809311.htm