Stuck on site, 1,500 billion VND dam that was involved in a series of violations is behind schedule

Video: Close-up of the dam downstream of Tra Khuc River

Stuck on site, 1,500 billion VND dam project has been

The Tra Khuc downstream dam was started in July 2019 and is expected to be completed in 2021. The project is invested by the Quang Ngai Provincial Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board. The total investment capital of the project is about 1,500 billion VND.

Land acquisition issues, 1,500 billion VND dam project that was involved in a series of violations is behind schedule - 2

This is a combined irrigation and transportation project, the main goal is to raise water on Tra Khuc River, in Quang Ngai City. The project consists of a sluice gate with 19 sections, with a total width of nearly 720m. The dam has a bridge and road with a length of 1,400m, of which the bridge is more than 970m long. The bridge on the dam helps connect the two river banks, making it convenient for people to travel between Hoang Sa on the North bank and Truong Sa on the South bank.

Land acquisition issues, 1,500 billion VND dam project that was involved in a series of violations is behind schedule - 3

In August 2020, the Central Inspection Committee pointed out a series of violations in the project implementation process such as: Not in accordance with the general planning of Quang Ngai City; when deciding to approve the project policy, it was not in accordance with the irrigation planning, not in accordance with the planning of the transport sector, water resources planning; there was no decision to approve the environmental impact assessment report and the capital source was not balanced.

Land acquisition issues, 1,500 billion VND dam project that was involved in a series of violations is behind schedule - 4

In the report on the review of the results of practicing thrift and combating waste in 2021, the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee repeatedly cited the State Audit's report on this project. Accordingly, the Tra Khuc downstream dam project was "named" for large capital adjustments, the investment decision did not clearly identify the capital source, and the total investment was inaccurately determined. Specifically, the project's total investment was adjusted twice from VND 60,648 billion to VND 1,498 billion (more than 24 times).

Land acquisition issues, 1,500 billion VND dam that was 'stuck' with a series of violations is behind schedule - 5

It is noteworthy that Quang Ngai province's spending of 200 billion VND from salary reform funds for the project is contrary to Government regulations, because the Central Government allocates this amount of money to prioritize urgent projects only, while the Tra Khuc downstream dam is a medium-term investment project.

Land acquisition issues, 1,500 billion VND dam project that was involved in a series of violations is behind schedule - 6

In recent times, the leaders of Quang Ngai province have repeatedly urged the investor to speed up the progress and complete the project by the end of 2023. For example, at the inspection of this project in September 2022, Mr. Dang Van Minh, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province, said that due to objective reasons such as not being able to arrange capital sources, the province decided to extend the project by 2 more years (until the end of 2023). However, the project once again had to extend the progress until August 2024 due to many problems, especially site clearance.

Stuck on site, 1,500 billion VND dam project that was involved in a series of violations is behind schedule - 7

Currently, many people in An Phu village (Tinh An commune, Quang Ngai city) whose land and houses are located in the project area have not been relocated. According to the Quang Ngai Province Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board, the biggest problem at present is that it is not possible to determine the land price and calculate land use fees when the State allocates resettlement land for some households in the project area.

Stuck on site, 1,500 billion VND dam project that was once involved in a series of violations is behind schedule - 8

"When the site is available, we will speed up the construction progress and soon complete the bridge on the dam. Once completed, the bridge will be put into service for the people, thereby shortening the travel time between the two river banks," said a representative of the Quang Ngai Province Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board.

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