Quang Nam temporarily suspends unnecessary projects to fight against waste of public investment

The investment project of Binh Dao Commune Health Station (Thang Binh) is being implemented. Photo: TRINH DUNG

Concerns from the base

It is impossible to count how many projects to build headquarters, economic infrastructure, and social infrastructure will be invested in 2025. However, a lot of funds from the total public investment capital in 2025 of nearly VND 8,312 billion (central budget and local budget) have been allocated to construction investment projects in 18 district-level localities implementing national target programs (socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas, sustainable poverty reduction and new rural areas) and resolution programs of the Provincial People's Council...

The public investment plan that has been carried out normally as usual in previous years has changed. On March 4, 2025, the People's Committee of Quang Nam province issued a document requesting the People's Committees at the district level to temporarily suspend the implementation of new construction investment projects, repair, renovation, and upgrading of offices of administrative agencies and public service units at the district and commune levels (except for the fields of health and education) in the management area. Determine a reasonable technical stopping point to temporarily stop, avoid waste when implementing the arrangement and streamlining of the administrative apparatus.

Local authorities said they must calculate, analyze, and review this suspension policy reasonably to avoid unwanted impacts in practice.

Many localities have announced that they are forced to change their investment direction when many headquarters construction projects that have been allocated capital are forced to stop and switch to other projects in the hope of disbursing all the allocated investment capital.

Mr. Nguyen Van Son - Chairman of Hoi An City People's Committee said that many ward police headquarters... have been closed and cannot allocate capital, occupying a large amount of budget, forcing them to find ways to switch to other investment projects to be able to allocate and disburse all planned capital.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Hieu - Chairman of Dien Ban Town People's Committee said that the completed police headquarters projects will be finalized, and the headquarters under construction will also be forced to end or be temporarily suspended.

Mr. Le Van Sinh - Chairman of the People's Committee of Nui Thanh district said that the locality has stopped construction of 4 police headquarters that have not yet started. Construction of those headquarters that have been built to 80-90% will continue to be completed.

Regarding Tay Giang, Mr. Bling Mia - Secretary of the District Party Committee said that the locality has 2 projects being implemented: the district People's Council office building has reached 80-90% of the volume and the sports complex (organizing the mountain sports festival) has been built at 50% or the commune police headquarters that are expected to be repaired will be stopped and not implemented.

The locality is reviewing and adjusting the capital structure for debt repayment to reduce outstanding debt for basic construction capital. Other unfinished construction projects have decided to temporarily suspend technical parts and unnecessary items.

In Que Son, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa - Chairman of the District People's Committee said that there were 2 projects of the District Party Committee headquarters that were preparing bidding documents but have stopped. There are 5 projects under construction, 2 projects have just been approved but have not started yet, the locality is also calculating to stop the technique....

Appropriate decision

According to the Department of Finance, stopping the construction of new headquarters, calculating for the merger, will avoid waste and save a large amount of public investment budget. However, the concern of localities now is: Should we absolutely stop all investment projects, including projects that have invested up to 80-90% and projects that will bring benefits, not only economically, to many localities?

Cultural and sports facilities in the merged communes will be transferred to the new administrative unit for management and people will still have the right to enjoy these facilities. In the photo: Dien Phong commune cultural and sports area, Dien Ban town. Photo: TRINH DUNG

According to local analysis, the incompleteness of these projects sometimes causes waste of budget instead of continuing to invest in completing them.

Mr. Nguyen Van Nam - Chairman of Hiep Duc District People's Committee said that contractors have gathered machinery and equipment to build unfinished projects. Many cultural works and communal stadiums have been 70-80% completed. Even if administrative boundaries are adjusted, the community will not change and will still have a need to use them. If they stop, it will be a waste.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Le Quang Trung - Chairman of Phuoc Son District People's Committee said that it is necessary to stop implementing projects related to office buildings, but cultural and sports institutions serving the spiritual and cultural life of the people should not be stopped.

Even if the government organization model changes, the locations of these institutions will still be the common property of the locality. The people there have the right to enjoy these investment values. It is not necessary that all projects must stop technically, to avoid waste...

After many meetings and reviews with recommendations from localities, the Provincial People's Committee has made a decision: Temporarily suspending constructions and projects that have not yet started or have started but have no volume. Constructions and projects that have started and have volume, the policy is to allow investors to continue implementation.

For projects that have started construction and have volume but are deemed to have no need for use in the coming time or are no longer suitable or have low efficiency, the investor shall proactively consider and decide to temporarily suspend or continue implementation.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Van Dung requested localities to urgently review and report on the handling plan and progress of projects to the Provincial People's Committee (through the Department of Finance) for monitoring, direction, consideration and resolution to ensure compliance with reality, savings and no budget waste. Localities must commit to the responsibility of projects and works that continue to be implemented for investment and construction to promote investment efficiency in practice.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/tam-dung-du-an-chua-can-thiet-quang-nam-chong-lang-phi-dau-tu-cong-3151633.html