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$1.2bil spent on transport, up 10%
The Ministry of Transport said it had disbursed VND20.6 trillion (US$1.21 billion) for 34 vital projects over the last 10 months, accounting for 80 per cent of its yearly budget.
The disbursement, exceeding last year’s spending by 10 per cent and the largest in five years, was used for bridges, expressways, highways and seaports.
Among major transport projects are the Nhat Tan cable-stayed bridge across the Hong (Red) River in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh Highway’s 2nd phase, the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway, the expressway linking HCM City–Long Thanh and Dau Giay, Van Phong international transshipment seaport in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa, Cai Nui-Can Tho Port and the extension of Highway 51.
Other vital transport projects slated for completion in the last two months of this year include the Quan Lo-Phung Hiep road in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, Thanh Tri Bridge, the HCM City–Trung Luong expressway on National Highway 1, and Lang-Hoa Lac expressway.
Transport Minister Ho Nghia Dung said the disbursement this year had been impressive but criticised the transport sector for being behind schedule in the assessment, design and bidding for construction projects.
In addition, the transport sector would start construction on three other expressway and waterway multi-billion-dong projects by year end.
– The construction of the Ha Noi–Thai Nguyen expressway began earlier this week. The 63.1km four-lane project is the biggest expressway in the midland northern province with a total investment capital of VND8,104 billion ($476 million).
– An expressway linking Trung Luong and My Thuan in Tien Giang Province will be built in late November under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) form. The project worth VND15,000 billion ($882 million) is 42 km long.
– A large waterway, to be built by the Marine Navigation Department in mid December for large capacity vessels to enter Hau River, is the largest dredging project so far in the Cuu long Delta. It will create a deep waterway for vessels of 10,000 to 20,000 DWT to go in and out of the Hau River.
The project has an investment capital of VND3,148billion ($185 million) from the State budget.
VietNamNet,VietNamNews
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