Violations of maintenance procedures
On July 7, the Government Inspectorate publicly announced Notice No. 2156/TB-TTCP Announcing the Inspection Conclusion on the compliance with the law in the maintenance of maritime works at the Vietnam Maritime and Waterway Administration (Cục HHĐT).
Regarding the work of preparing and approving procedures for maintenance of maritime works; preparing and submitting for approval plans for maintenance of maritime works, the Government Inspectorate pointed out: Before December 30, 2022, for 43 maritime channels under the management authority of the Ministry of Transport (MOT) that had not been developed and approved maintenance procedures by the Ministry of Transport and the Department of Planning and Investment (the inspection works were directly approved procedures by the Department of Planning and Investment very slowly from about 4 years to 13 years) were not in accordance with regulations, so the dredging and maintenance plans for maritime channels in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 were prepared and approved without sufficient basis, without ensuring legal basis, and not in accordance with regulations.
Violations of maintenance procedures leading to the development of annual maintenance plans without sufficient legal basis; violations of maintenance plans leading to the determination of needs and maintenance dredging frequency not being fully based on regulations, affecting the quality and efficiency of maritime construction maintenance planning" - Conclusion Notice stated.
Regarding the maintenance of maritime works in the period 2020 - 2025, the Government Inspectorate pointed out:
Many dredging and maintenance projects of maritime channels are being implemented slowly compared to the approved plan, requiring adjustments and prolonging the implementation time over many years, which is not consistent with the priority level 1 "very necessary" approved by the Ministry of Transport in the annual maintenance plan, affecting the timeliness in maintaining channel standards and the efficiency of exploiting maritime channels.
The Department of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Transport has not implemented dredging and maintenance work in the form of standard maintenance contracts for channel lines with regular dredging and maintenance nature, repeated annually, not in accordance with regulations. The failure to implement the channel standard maintenance contract form leads to the organization of implementation still having to repeat many procedures (preparation, approval of design, estimate; organization of contractor selection... ) so it has not been effective in saving time and simplifying administrative procedures...
For maintenance works and projects that are directly inspected, the actual construction volume at the dredging and maintenance of the maritime channel inspected exceeds the permissible volume in the Decision approving the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and the Submersion Permit at sea issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (formerly the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), with a large exceeding level leading to the risk of potential environmental impact is not in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Marine and Island Resources and Environment in 2015, Law on Environmental Protection in 2014, and Law on Environmental Protection in 2020.
The Department of HHĐT has organized a number of inspections during the dredging construction process. However, the quality of the Department's inspections is still limited, and shortcomings, limitations, and violations in construction work have not been detected to promptly rectify and handle according to regulations, such as at maritime channel dredging projects that have been inspected: actual construction all have volume exceeding the EIA, Submerged in the sea permit, some construction projects are constructed against regulations... affecting the efficiency of construction management.
In addition, the Government Inspectorate also pointed out a series of shortcomings and violations in contractor selection; acceptance and final settlement of works.
Proposal to handle responsibilities for relevant collectives and individuals
According to the Conclusion Notice, the HHĐT Department reported that in the period from January 1, 2020 to September 30, 2025, the Department conducted 25 inspections related to the maintenance of maritime works and 6 inspections of the compliance with the provisions of Vietnamese law and international conventions to which Vietnam is a member in the management and operation of seaports at 33 seaport enterprises.
However, there are seaport areas that have not been planned for inspection by the Department of Planning and Investment, such as: the seaport areas of Quy Nhon, Quang Ngai, Kien Giang... according to the provisions of Article 12 of Circular No. 19/2022/TT-BGTVT, affecting the effectiveness and efficiency of state management of the Department.
From the inspection results, the Government Inspectorate proposed that the Prime Minister direct the Ministry of Construction to strictly implement the recommendations stated in the Inspection Conclusion; review, determine responsibilities, organize self-criticism, and handle responsibilities for relevant collectives and individuals according to their authority; report and propose to competent authorities to consider and handle cases beyond their authority according to regulations.
