Vinacomin halts Ke Ga Port construction

Vinacomin deputy general director Tran Van Chieu on Wednesday told the Daily that constructing the port at the Ke Ga area is technically inappropriate and might fetch a low economic return.

The group is considering a new location in Vinh Tan Port to develop the project to save investment costs. Vinh Tan Port is around 120 kilometers from Ke Ga, Chieu said.

The project has total capital of around VND8 trillion in the first phase. However, it is a waste of money and a big technical fault to develop the project amid current economic conditions, Chieu explained.

A source from Binh Thuan Province’s People’s Committee said that Vinacomin has inspected some locations to develop the project. The State enterprise is considering expanding Vinh Tan Port to transport alumina and import coal for Vinh Tan thermal power plant.

Given this plan, Vinacomin will save investment capital for building railroads and internal roads for alumina transport and a breakwater totaling VND4 trillion.

After re-calculating distance, transport costs, loading capacity, annual dredging costs and recruitment, Vinacomin may decide to expand Vinh Tan Port to combine alumina transport with coal imports for the thermal power plant.

The source said that Ke Ga Port is still included in the national seaport planning. The province will wait for the Government’s decision before working with owners of resorts affected by the project.

Earlier, some 12 resort projects in Ham Thuan Nam District had to stop construction to make room for Ke Ga Port project.

Vinacomin expected to develop three stages of the project at the total investment of US$1 billion, much higher than the earlier estimated US$700 million. Finishing the first phase, the port will have a loading capacity of 3.5 million tons per year. The final stage was expected to be complete in 2020, raising loading capacity of the project to 35 million tons each year.

Given pressure to build a deepwater to export alumina, Vinacomin earlier insisted that the project would kick off in 2010. This plan is not realized given slow site clearance and compensation for 12 tourist projects in Ham Thuan Nam District.