On November 22, at the Duong Quang Ham Street expansion site, many items such as drainage system, road and sidewalk expansion, and underground power grid are still being implemented. Some households are dismantling their houses to hand over the site.
However, the existing electric poles in the middle of the road have not been recovered, hindering construction and posing a potential risk of accidents.
Ms. Mai Thi Oanh (45 years old) - a household that has handed over the land for a long time, was upset: "Currently, the project is very messy and dusty, greatly affecting business. I just hope this road will be completed soon so that people will suffer less."
The project to expand Duong Quang Ham Street, nearly 2.5 km long, connecting Go Vap Cultural Park to the railway bordering Binh Thanh District, has been expanded from 6 m to 32 m, with 6 traffic lanes.
Of the total investment of more than 2,300 billion VND, site clearance costs account for the majority, at about 1,750 billion VND.
The project started in April 2020, but after only 4 months it had to be temporarily suspended due to land issues. It was not until September 2023 that the project was restarted after Go Vap district handed over part of the land.
According to the Management Board of Traffic Construction Investment Projects of Ho Chi Minh City (Traffic Board - investor), up to now, the locality has only handed over the site for 415/425 cases. The remaining 10 cases have not been resolved, causing difficulties for synchronous construction.
Sections such as from Nguyen Thai Son Street to Road No. 2 are still stuck with 5 households, 3 bunkers and 2 defense land plots. Sections from Road No. 2 to Nguyen Van Luong are also facing obstacles because of 1 defense land plot and 1 bunker that has not been relocated.
The project was previously targeted to open to traffic by December 31, 2024. But with the current sluggish progress, the target of opening to traffic by the end of 2024 is unlikely to be achieved.
The Traffic Committee recommends that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee soon issue a document reporting to the Ministry of National Defense on the relocation and dismantling of the bunkers.
Go Vap District needs to hand over the remaining land soon and the electricity industry needs to speed up the progress of undergrounding the power grid and reclaiming existing power poles to ensure the project can be constructed synchronously.
Mr. Nguyen Van Hung - Head of the Compensation and Site Clearance Board of Go Vap District, said: "We are actively campaigning and propagating so that households understand the significance of the project. For cases of disagreement, the district will apply administrative measures to reclaim the site."
According to Mr. Bui Trung Kien - Deputy General Director of Ho Chi Minh City Electricity Corporation, the Traffic Department has handed over more than 60% of the land to the electricity industry, but not continuously but in sections, so the existing power grid cannot be moved. Moreover, the materials and installation equipment must be imported, taking more time to transport and accept.
"It is expected that the undergrounding of the power grid and the recovery of the power poles will be completed by April 2025," said Mr. Kien.
