In Soc Trang province, there are currently 4 river sand mines (MS01, MS03, MS04, MS12) being exploited to serve the Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang Expressway Component 4 Project, section passing through Soc Trang province. According to the records, these 4 sand mines have a total reserve of about 6.5 million m3, basically meeting the requirements of the Project.
However, according to Project Management Board 2 - the Project Investor - each sand mine currently has different price announcements, causing difficulties in management and operation. Mine MS01 (commercial mine) is proposing to increase from 81,950 VND/m3 to 132,593 VND/m3 (including VAT). Mine MS04 (commercial mine) the enterprise proposes to temporarily calculate according to the unit price of using a suction vessel of 136,876 VND/m3.
The sand mine that the contractor directly assigned (not commercial) is MS03, the enterprise proposed to provisionally calculate the unit price using a suction vessel at 136,876 VND/m3. The MS12 mine, according to the proposed provisional price using a scraper, is 132,260 VND/m3.
Sharing about sand exploitation at MS04 mine, Mr. Vo Minh Dung - Deputy Director of Hoa Tuan Trading and Service Co., Ltd. - said that sand exploitation by suction dredge is more expensive than using scraper. After sand is sucked up from Hau River, the enterprise must screen and wash the impurities and then pump it overboard through the spillway. After these steps, the sand is washed of all impurities, mud, soil and young sand. The sand continues to be pumped through a barge and then workers pump fresh water from Hau River to wash it a second time before transporting it to the construction site.
“For other commercial sand mines, using scrapers for exploitation is suitable because the sand is abundant and beautiful, just need to lower the bucket to scoop up the sand so the cost is lower. But at the MS04 mine, because the sand is mixed with alluvium and impurities, it has to go through many stages. The cost of cleaning and suction alone is from 60,000 VND/m3 or more. Screening and washing sand to bring back to the construction site for the MS04 mine is very hard work," said Mr. Vo Minh Dung.
According to Mr. Dung, the estimated price of sand at the MS04 mine exploited by suction technology is 121,560 VND/m3 (excluding VAT). This price is calculated by the enterprise according to the instructions from Document No. 1545 of the Department of Construction Investment Management (Ministry of Transport).
With the MS04 sand mine, the company calculated nearly 20 types of costs with a total amount of over 520 billion VND. This amount divided by the sand reserves allowed for exploitation (over 4.2 million m3) will give a tentative proposed price.
As Lao Dong reported, at the meeting with the leaders of Soc Trang province, the leader of Project Management Board 2 said that the construction unit is currently only focusing on buying sand at the mine with a low price announcement due to concerns that buying at the mine with a higher price is not enough to make payment to the investor. The representative of Project Management Board 2 proposed that the People's Committee of Soc Trang province direct relevant departments, branches and commercial sand mine owners to promptly determine and announce the price at the mine as a basis for payment according to regulations.
Chairman of the People's Committee of Soc Trang province Tran Van Lau requested departments, branches, investors, and sand mine owners to promptly determine and announce prices at the mines so that contractors can proactively take sand to the construction site, contributing to speeding up the project's progress. The Chairman of the People's Committee of Soc Trang province also requested departments, branches, and project investors to urgently seek opinions from central ministries and branches to finalize the official sand price for the scraping and suction technology.
The Chairman of the People's Committee of Soc Trang province said that time is limited, if the amount of sand is exploited continuously, it will not ensure the reserve for the project. Therefore, the relevant units should review the mines that are capable of supplying sand, ensure the sand reserve for the project, and ensure the construction progress.
