Slow progress
Although required to be completed before August 30, 2026, many projects to build inter-level boarding schools in border communes of Cao Bang province are still slow in construction progress, and some projects have only completed more than 10% of the volume.
According to research, in phase 1, Cao Bang province is deploying the construction of 11 primary and secondary boarding schools in border communes.
In which, 10 projects use state budget capital, especially Phuc Hoa Primary and Secondary Boarding School is invested from funding from Hanoi City. Each project has an average investment level of 100 - over 200 billion VND.
Real-world records in early June 2026 show that only 4 projects achieved construction volumes of over 20%, including Tra Linh (55%), Ha Lang (38%), Quang Trung (27%) and Tong Cot (22%).
The remaining projects such as Lung Nam, Quang Han, Duc Long, Truong Ha, Dam Thuy, Dinh Phong and Phuc Hoa have only reached 12-20% of the volume.
Most projects with progress of less than 20% are currently only completing ground leveling, foundation construction or preparing to deploy the body of the project.
At the Duc Long Primary and Secondary Boarding School project - the project with the slowest progress, by June 9, it had only reached about 12.4% of the construction volume.
There are more than 140 people participating in construction at the construction site, including reinforcements from Military Region 1 and contractor workers.
According to the Investment and Construction Project Management Board of Cao Bang province, the project progress is affected by many objective and subjective reasons.
These are urgent public investment projects, but so far there are no detailed instructions for this type, so the process of completing legal procedures still faces many obstacles.
The supply of materials and supplies for construction is not timely, while the construction drawing design documents, estimates and acceptance and payment procedures in some projects are still slow to complete, affecting the organization of construction and planning for the implementation of items.
Contractor lacks manpower and machinery
Another difficulty is the sharp increase in fuel and construction material prices in 2026, causing project implementation costs to far exceed initial estimates.
Meanwhile, the province's proposal to supplement investment capital has not yet been approved by competent authorities, putting great pressure on construction units.
Cao Bang is currently simultaneously implementing many key projects such as the Dong Dang - Tra Linh expressway, Bao Lac Medical Center or the Provincial Traditional Medicine Hospital.
This causes the demand for construction labor to increase, leading to a shortage of labor, especially skilled labor, making it difficult to mobilize construction forces for boarding schools.
Some projects when implemented encountered difficulties when there was no water source, the project was implemented on a high hill (in Tong Cot commune). "Brothers had to go downstairs to buy and collect each water truck to bring up here to serve construction," a representative of the contractor shared.
Regarding the project in Duc Long commune, functional agencies determined that the main reason for the slow progress is that the contractor has not fully arranged manpower and equipment according to the contract. The prolonged ground leveling work makes many items unable to be deployed synchronously.
Faced with the above situation, the Management Board of Investment and Construction Projects of Cao Bang province requested contractors to urgently supplement manpower and equipment, rebuild the detailed progress for each item, organize multi-pronged and multi-shift construction to ensure the goal of completion and putting the works into use before August 30, 2026.
The investor agency also requested supervision consulting units to strengthen on-site inspection, promptly detect and handle existing problems, ensure quality, labor safety and project progress.
It is known that, in the face of the slow progress of projects, Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee has proposed to mobilize maximum forces, focusing on definitively resolving 2 projects with completed volumes on schedule to "reach the finish line" on August 30, including schools in Tra Linh and Ha Lang communes.
For projects at risk of delay, priority should be given to some essential items such as classroom areas, dining halls, and dormitories to meet the immediate learning and living needs of students, especially students in remote communes.
