Major transport projects to receive tough scrutiny

The Hanoi-Thai Nguyen Highway will be scrutinised

On February 15, Nguyen Xuan Hao, Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Transport said that the ministry would intensify its inspections of over 15 major construction projects, especially those projects nearing completion.

Major projects which are coming under scrutiny include phase two of the Hanoi Ring Road No.3, the Hanoi-Thai Nguyen Highway and the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway.

The construction of the new Noi Bai International Airport Air Traffic Control Tower; the National Highway 32C Viet Tri City bypass and National Highway 32A will also be inspected.

Some other projects set for auditing are Highway 3B (between Xuat Hoa and Po Ma), Highway 37 connecting Tuyen Quang and Deo Khe; the Ho Chi Minh National Highway between Cao Bang and Pac Bo, National Highway 1A between Doc Xay and Thanh Hoa and the Ben Thuy II Bridge in Nghe An.

Towards the end of 2011, Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang also inspected five crucial projects which raised public concern over their poor quality of construction. The projects included the Thang Long Avenue; Cau Gie-Ninh Binh Highway; Thanh Tri Bridge in Hanoi; the south section of Ring Road No.3 in Hanoi and the Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong Highway.

Thang condemned several head managers and replaced the contractors to speed up the pace of project construction. On October 4, 2011, Thang dismissed the head manager of the Da Nang Airport project after discovering how far behind its deadline the project was due to the contractors failing to meet their commitments.

fHe was quoted in heated discussions with the project management team as saying, "You’re kidding? Workers in Danang are famous for completing on time, no need to bring workers down from Hanoi. The problem is that you haven’t offered them good enough pay so you’ve failed in employing them.” The contractors were given a week to improve the situation before being replaced.

In March, the ministry of transport will also monitor transportation businesses, travel support services, vocational training, and driving license examinations.