|
SOS: Contractors halt transport projects
A lot of transport projects are idling, others have been going at a snail’s pace, while transport work construction corporations have been getting deeper into debt. Minister of Transport Ho Nghia Dung has rung the alarm bell over the stagnation of transport projects.
Dung said:
There are several reasons behind the tardiness in transport project implementation. First, the prices of all kinds of construction materials, steel and cement, sand and stone have increased by 50-90%.
Slow site clearance is a problem for nearly all key projects, including beltway No 3 in Hanoi (the stretch from Mai Dich to Phap Van), the Thanh Tri Bridge project and the expansion of Highway No 32 (Cau Dien-Nhon).
In some projects, construction material prices have increased by three-fold just 1-2 years after they were kicked off, which has forced contractors to stop executing the projects. If they had continued, they would have suffered even more.
A lot of contractors dare not join bids for projects at this moment as they fear prices will go up further and cause them losses.
Meanwhile, tardiness in the enactment of legal documents related to the adjustment of project estimates has also made projects’ paces slow.
It has also been attributed to a series of other reasons, including slow site clearance processes, the penury of contractors, and the lack of professionalism of project management units.
As far as I know, contractors have been complaining about the slow disbursement of funds due to complicated disbursement procedures. In some cases, competent officials deliberately delay disbursement. Have you been informed about that?
The Ministry of Transport has asked investors and projects’ management units to speed up the processes of project examination, technique design approval and estimate approval. The ministry has also asked for punishment for activities of deliberately delaying disbursement and asked for site clearance to be sped up.
Reports show that the disbursement for transport projects in July and August showed considerable improvement with the disbursement rate up by 50% in comparison with May and June.
Do you think that transport projects have been going slowly partially because of the low capability of contractors, many of whom are on the verge of bankruptcy?
The Ministry of Transport is managing some seven construction and installation corporations. It is true that some corporations have accumulative losses and they are facing big difficulties. However, I can say for sure that no corporation is now on the verge of bankruptcy.
In fact, the capital the state allocates to construction and installation companies proves to be very low (less than 8% of total working capital needed). Most of the companies have been relying on bank loans to maintain their business. However, the companies cannot access bank loans nowadays as banks have been trying to tighten credit, while pushing interest rates up.
The situation has gotten worse with the fact that the construction companies cannot collect debts worth several thousand billion VND. What will the ministry do to help construction companies collect the money they are owed?
A part of the volume is the debts that the ‘state has to pay to state-owned enterprises’. The Ministry of Transport has asked the government to allocate the payment.
The other debts are owed by local authorities. We have sent dispatches to chairmen of provincial People’s Committees, asking them to pay debts to construction enterprises.
VNN
|
