Determined to clear the gateway to Tan Son Nhat airport

TP - On June 21, Ho Chi Minh City restarted the construction of the Tan Ky-Tan Quy bridge project (Binh Tan district) after more than 5 years of being "suspended". This is one of the efforts to open the gateway to Tan Son Nhat airport.

The Tan Ky Tan Quy bridge project has just been re-constructed. Photo: HH

Ho Chi Minh City aims to complete projects such as Tan Ky - Tan Quy bridge and road, Hoang Hoa Tham road expansion, and construction of the road connecting Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa road (Tan Binh district) by the end of this year.

Removing "suspended" projects

Tan Ky-Tan Quy Bridge and Road is located at the Northwest gateway of Ho Chi Minh City, connecting the districts of Hoc Mon, Tan Binh, Tan Phu, Binh Tan with the inner city and Tan Son Nhat airport. In early 2018, the Tan Ky-Tan Quy Bridge (Binh Tan District) project across Tham Luong-Ben Cat canal was started under the BOT (build-operate-transfer) contract with a total investment of more than 312 billion VND, then increased to 668 billion VND due to interest during construction, waiting for toll collection to recover capital.

Initially, the project was expected to be completed by the end of 2018 and expected to recover capital after more than 9 years of toll collection through the An Suong - An Lac BOT station on National Highway 1 (about 500 m from the bridge location). By December 2018, when about 70% of the work had been completed, the project had to be temporarily suspended due to land clearance problems.

By August 2019, the State Audit concluded that it was inappropriate to include the Tan Ky - Tan Quy bridge in the An Suong - An Lac BOT project when the project was not located on National Highway 1 (part of this BOT project). In addition, the Tan Ky - Tan Quy bridge project was also inconsistent with Resolution No. 437 of the National Assembly (BOT projects only apply to newly built roads, while the Tan Ky - Tan Quy bridge project was built on existing roads).

Faced with the impossibility of implementing the BOT project, at the end of September 2022, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee decided to stop and terminate the implementation of the project to build a new Tan Ky - Tan Quy bridge under the BOT contract form to switch to public investment. At the end of 2022, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council approved the use of more than VND 491 billion to complete the Tan Ky - Tan Quy bridge.

Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City will spend about 230 billion VND to pay the cost to the investor who spent on the bridge and about 261 billion VND to invest in completing the remaining items. After more than 5 years of being "suspended", on June 21, the Tan Ky-Tan Quy bridge project officially resumed construction.

Mr. Luong Minh Phuc - Director of the Management Board of Investment and Construction of Traffic Works of Ho Chi Minh City (Traffic Board, investor), said that the project will be constructed in about 6 months and completed on December 31, 2024. After opening to traffic, Tan Ky-Tan Quy Bridge together with Tan Ky-Tan Quy Road which is being upgraded and expanded (expected to be completed in October) will form a traffic axis connecting National Highway 1 to the city center and Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

“The project commencement is the result of the process of the city's departments and branches, together with the interdisciplinary working group implementing the BOT Contract for the An Suong - An Lac - National Highway 1 section, focusing on removing difficulties and obstacles, completing negotiations to terminate the BOT contract with the previous investor.

Along with that is the work of site clearance, relocation and re-establishment of technical infrastructure works, and the process of implementing investment procedures according to the public investment method," said Mr. Phuc.

Mr. Vu Chi Kien, Vice Chairman of Binh Tan District People's Committee, said that the Tan Ky - Tan Quy bridge project is one of the city's key projects monitored and directed by the working group of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee. "Binh Tan District has drastically implemented the work of land acquisition and clearance and accelerated the progress of land acquisition to soon implement the project," said Mr. Kien.

In the past, the district has mobilized and persuaded 43 households whose houses and land are affected by the project to agree with the project policy and hand over the land. Currently, 97.6% of households have agreed to hand over the land. In cases where there is no agreement, the district is continuing to mobilize.

According to Mr. Bui Xuan Cuong, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, when completed and put into operation, Tan Ky-Tan Quy bridge will develop traffic infrastructure, urban embellishment, along with the Tham Luong-Ben Cat canal project, which will help drain water, treat wastewater, and improve the environment. This is also the first project to apply a new approach from the public-private partnership (PPP) model to public investment.

To start the project, the city's transport sector has overcome many procedural and legal difficulties to complete the procedures for converting the investment model from BOT to public form in accordance with the law.

“I suggest that the investor and contractor speed up the progress to put the project into operation soon. At the same time, the surrounding projects should also speed up the completion progress to soon complete and synchronize the traffic network, urban embellishment of the western area, helping to connect conveniently with Terminal T3 of Tan Son Nhat airport,” said Mr. Cuong.

“Along with Tan Ky - Tan Quy bridge, the completion and putting into operation of a series of projects to serve the city's people by the end of this year, including the Tan Ky - Tan Quy road expansion project, Hoang Hoa Tham road expansion project, construction of the road connecting Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa road... will contribute to reducing traffic congestion, completing the traffic network, and enhancing traffic connectivity in the area.”

Mr. Luong Minh Phuc, Director of Project Management Board

investment in construction of traffic works in Ho Chi Minh City

Finish this year

Currently, in addition to the bridge construction project and Tan Ky-Tan Quy road expansion, Ho Chi Minh City is also implementing projects to clear the gateway to Tan Son Nhat airport.

According to Tien Phong reporters at noon on June 21, dozens of workers, equipment and machinery were busy constructing the underpass at the Tran Quoc Hoan - Phan Thuc Duyen intersection (Tan Binh district). This project is part of the project to build the Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa connecting road (connecting T3 station - Tan Son Nhat airport) about 4km long with 6 lanes, which was started by Ho Chi Minh City at the end of 2022 with a total capital of more than 4,800 billion VND.

Once completed, this new route will connect directly to Terminal T3 (under construction), thereby breaking the monopoly of Truong Son Street in and out of Tan Son Nhat Airport.

Mr. Luong Minh Phuc said that the Tran Quoc Hoan - Phan Thuc Duyen underpass project has reached more than 80% of its volume and is expected to be completed in August. The entire project has reached more than 50% of its volume and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Mr. Phuc said that this is one of the city's key traffic projects, therefore, since the beginning of the year, the investor has organized the signing of emulation agreements, accelerated progress, "worked in 3 shifts and 4 shifts" and maintained construction throughout holidays and Tet to ensure project progress.

Besides the Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa connecting road, the project to expand Hoang Hoa Tham Street (from the military barracks gate adjacent to the airport to Cong Hoa Street) with an investment capital of nearly 300 billion VND is also preparing the ground for construction. After completion, this approximately 800m road section will be expanded from 8-10m to 22m.

According to the HCMC Department of Transport, after expansion, this route will connect Cong Hoa Street with Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa Street to make it most convenient for vehicles to enter and exit T3 Terminal - Tan Son Nhat Airport. The investor aims to complete the expansion of this road section by the end of this year.

Huynh

Source: https://tienphong.vn/quyet-khoi-thong-cua-ngo-san-bay-tan-son-nhat-post1648377.tpo