Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha: Must ensure sand mining capacity for highways

On the afternoon of November 20, in Soc Trang province, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired a meeting to promote expressway projects in the Mekong Delta region. Attending the meeting were representatives of relevant ministries, branches and localities.

Reporting at the meeting, Mr. Le Anh Tuan - Deputy Minister of Transport (MOT) said that the Mekong Delta region is implementing 4 key expressway projects, including: North - South expressway project, Eastern section Can Tho - Ca Mau; Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway project; Cao Lanh - An Huu expressway project; My An - Cao Lanh expressway project.

To ensure the completion of the projects, according to Mr. Tuan, the National Assembly and the Government have allowed the application of a special mechanism in the allocation of material mines to shorten the implementation time. Up to now, the conditions for exploiting about 38.4 million m3 of sand have been met, the procedures for supplying 18.35 million m3 are being completed, and the source of 7.45 million m3 of sand has not been identified.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired the meeting.

According to Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan, although the basic reserves are sufficient, the exploitation capacity of the mines is limited and has not met the construction progress. Some mines in Dong Thap province (supplying for the Can Tho - Ca Mau project) had to stop, so the volume could not be guaranteed (there are still 0.4 million m3 that cannot be exploited).

An Giang province has implemented a project to dredge the Vam Nao River to use recovered minerals to supply the Can Tho - Ca Mau project, but has had to stop exploitation (due to full capacity, dredging projects can increase exploitation capacity). There are still 0.63 million m3 that cannot be exploited, and 6/9 mines must be stopped from the end of October 2024 due to exhausted reserves, the quality of some mines does not meet requirements, some mines are exploited too deep or there is a risk of riverbank landslides.

Vinh Long province has not completed the procedures to increase the capacity of 3 sand mines according to the time of the Confirmation Registration (in particular, from now until December 31, 2024, the Can Tho - Ca Mau project needs 4 million m3 to complete the load).

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha inspected the construction progress of the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway.

The Deputy Minister of Transport added that, following the Prime Minister's direction, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, and Soc Trang provinces need to complete procedures for granting sand mines for projects in October 2024. However, the implementation of procedures has not met the construction progress. In particular, the Can Tho - Hau Giang project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2025, is in dire need of additional sand sources from localities.

In addition, many mines in Tien Giang, Ben Tre, and Soc Trang provinces, when surveyed and assessed for quality and reserves, do not meet requirements, and must seek alternative mines, affecting the progress of mine licensing. River sand mines in Soc Trang province have sufficient reserves but very limited exploitation capacity, so it is necessary to proactively use sea sand to reduce pressure on river sand resources.

Chau Doc - Soc Trang Expressway is 9% behind schedule

In Soc Trang province, the component project of Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway (invested by Soc Trang province) is the longest section of the project, more than 58km long, with 4 construction packages.

To date, the total value of implementation has reached over VND 1,171 billion, reaching 14.5% of the contract value, 9% behind the plan. Of which, the capital plan for 2024 is over VND 2,322 billion, to date over VND 1,296 billion has been disbursed, reaching 55.8% of the plan...

Mr. Lam Hoang Nghiep - Vice Chairman of Soc Trang Provincial People's Committee spoke at the meeting.

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Soc Trang Province, Lam Hoang Nghiep, pointed out the difficulties and obstacles in implementing the project in the past time. Specifically, with river sand, it is necessary to carefully assess the impacts of sand mining to limit landslides and impacts on people's lives.

Regarding sand exploitation, there is currently no official maritime boundary between Soc Trang and Tra Vinh provinces, so the assignment of sand mines in Sub-area B1.3 to contractors for construction is still facing difficulties. At the same time, there are recommendations to ministries and the Government on a number of contents to speed up the construction progress of the expressway project.

From the above advantages and difficulties, leaders of ministries, branches and localities have exchanged, discussed and reported on difficulties and obstacles in implementing key projects in the area; reported on developing plans and submitted to the Government to assign specific targets to localities with sand resources and proposed plans to flexibly transfer sand resources between projects, to meet the construction progress of expressway projects in the coming time.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha acknowledged and commended the efforts and determination of ministries, branches and localities in surveying routes and balancing capital sources for key national projects.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha speaks at a working session with the Mekong Delta provinces. Photo: Nhat Huy

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized: “For sand materials, localities must clearly determine the actual exploitation capacity to ensure supply for the project. It cannot be said that the reserves are in excess, but in reality, the sand exploitation capacity does not ensure construction progress. For sea sand when put into use in the project, the salinity must be equal to or less than the salinity in the surrounding environment. If the salinity is greater, it must be treated.”

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha noted that it is necessary to ensure the harmony of interests between the enterprise as contractor and the enterprise as material exploitation unit, and at the same time, it is impossible to let the project capital increase. In addition, environmental monitoring and supervision work must be based on scientific and technical calculation tools and models to ensure environmental safety, and prevent landslides that affect people's lives...

(Source: Tien Phong)

Link: https://tienphong.vn/pho-thu-tuong-tran-hong-ha-phai-dam-bao-cong-suat-khai-thac-cat-cho-cao-toc-post1693376.tpo

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