Fresh measures to facilitate construction of North-South highway’s eastern part

The section linking Mai Son and national highway 45 under the North-South highway's eastern part

According to the deputy PM, it is a key task set in the eighth National Party Congress Resolution to finalise the construction of 23 component projects by 2025 to smoothen travel in the North-South highway’s eastern part that runs over 2,000 km from Huu Nghi to Ca Mau province.

As per schedule, it is a must to complete the construction of a 361.5km highway by late 2022, as well as an additional 652km by March 2024, and 729km extra by 2025.

Thanh noted that to facilitate the implementation, the National Assembly and the government have greenlit the application of several specific mechanisms on contractor appointment and mineral exploitation serving the production of common building materials and several works during the project preparation stage, among others.

However, due to the huge work volume and limited timeline, relevant ministries, agencies, and localities need to embrace innovation in the mindset and operation model, closely observing the set regulations and striving to remove all obstacles.

With respect to building several road sections in the North-South highway’s eastern part during 2017-2020, just the project on building a road stretch linking Mai Son and national highway 45 has met the progress target, while three other projects are behind schedule by 1.53-3.8 per cent.

Problems related to cleared space, lack of materials to pave road surfaces, and impacts of price volatility are among the factors leading to construction delays, according to the deputy PM.

Hence, the deputy PM demanded the chairmen of Nghe An, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, and relevant localities to draw experience and take drastic measures to settle the impediments in June to facilitate the project’s pace.

“Binh Thuan province, for instance, needs to create conditions allowing the contractors to soon exploit materials serving the construction of Vinh Hao-Phan Thiet road section to be able to complete construction in 2022,” said the deputy PM.

“Besides this, the project management units must urge their contractors to embrace construction right after receiving cleared space and replace those who failed to realise commitments.”

For component projects on building several road sections in the North-South highway’s eastern part, Thanh reminded the relevant units to avoid any obstacles.

The localities are required to complete approval of component projects, as well as ensure the handover of the remaining cleared land to investors before June 30.

The deputy PM also guided the Ministry of Transport to take initiative in project management following the tasks assigned by the government and the PM, working closely with relevant localities to help them troubleshoot difficulties in a timely manner.