At a regular press conference on the socio-economic situation of Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of July 17, the investors of the two projects explained the reason for dividing the project into many packages.
The Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len canal renovation project has a total investment of VND9,030 billion, the total length of the route is up to 32.7 km, the longest canal renovation project in Ho Chi Minh City.
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Anh Dung - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Board (investor) said that the project is divided into 10 construction packages, of which the smallest package is worth 330 billion VND and the largest package is over 1,000 billion VND.
In total, there are 13 subcontractors participating in the packages, in which some units undertake more than one package.
Mr. Dung affirmed that all bidding packages are widely bid online, ensuring publicity and transparency in accordance with legal regulations at the time of issuance of bidding documents.
According to Mr. Dung, 9 out of 10 packages have started construction since February 2023. In particular, package 10 has design problems, so construction will not start until January 2024. These packages are expected to be constructed in 1,095 days, completed in March 2026.
Previously, the investor had expected to complete the project early on April 30, 2025, but the plan was not achieved due to many difficulties.
Currently, some sections of about 4 km long have been technically opened to traffic. To date, the disbursement volume has reached 52.6%. If the additional work has been completed at the construction site but is not eligible for acceptance and payment, the total volume will reach about 60 - 65%.
According to the investor, the main reason for the delay is the lack of materials such as sand, stone and the impact of tides, causing the construction to be regulated according to the water.
The investor said that they are supporting the contractor in finding alternative supply sources, and at the same time do not hesitate to apply warning sanctions and penalties if the contractor is late without a legitimate reason.
The An Phu intersection project has a total investment of more than VND 3,400 billion, and was started at the end of 2022, with the goal of completing the entire project by April 30, 2025.
However, by June 2025, the total progress was only about 68%, forcing the completion time to be adjusted to December 2025.
This project is divided into 17 packages. A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board (Traffic Board - project investor) explained the division of the package based on the principle of ensuring consistency, independence, in accordance with technical characteristics, site clearance progress and independent exploitation requirements for each item.
The packages are divided into two groups, in which group 1 includes packages for relocating technical infrastructure such as electricity, water, telecommunications, trees, etc. These are packages of small scale, separated separately by specialized fields.
Group 2 includes large construction packages such as bridges, tunnels, overpasses, etc., divided according to the technical characteristics and completion progress of each part of the project.
Similar to the Tham Luong canal project, the selection of contractors is carried out in the form of open domestic bidding via the network. The main contractor can merge and propose to use a subcontractor.
In the construction packages of the An Phu intersection project, there are currently 4 subcontractors participating, taking on items such as waterproofing, supply, installation of specialized water equipment...
The Traffic Department said that it is completing the report summarizing the results of the review and assessment of the project implementation progress to submit to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction before July 30, 2025 as required.
