Lao Dong Newspaper points out early abnormalities
According to Inspection Conclusion Notice No. 3436/TB-TTCP dated December 26, 2025, the Government Inspectorate determined that the coastal road project connecting the East-West economic corridor in Quang Tri was behind schedule, violated the Bidding Law and revealed many shortcomings in the preparation, appraisal, approval as well as adjustment of investment policies and total investment.
The project has a total length of nearly 55km, of which phase 1 is more than 48km long. The initial approved total investment is 2,060 billion VND. However, after the implementation process, the project was adjusted to increase to 2,731 billion VND, an increase of more than 671 billion VND, while extending the implementation time to 2027. The Government Inspectorate assessed that this adjustment is not sufficient basis, especially in the context of difficult balancing of medium-term public investment capital in the 2026-2030 period.
Notably, more than a year before the inspection conclusion, in October 2024, Lao Dong Newspaper published an article "Proposal to increase 570 billion VND for the traffic road project, very difficult". The article clearly stated that the Investment and Construction Project Management Board of Quang Tri province proposed to adjust the total investment of the project to more than 2,630 billion VND, an increase of more than 570 billion VND compared to the initial approval, with the reason that many incurred costs are higher than the estimate.
Right at that time, the Provincial Department of Planning and Investment (now the Department of Finance) expressed a cautious view, saying that the increased capital level was very large, putting pressure on the local budget balance.
After the inspection conclusion, the project is accelerated.
The Construction Investment Project Management Board of Quang Tri province said that it is focusing on accelerating the construction progress and overcoming the existing problems that have been pointed out.
Currently, all 4 construction packages have been implemented simultaneously. The total value of implementation reached more than 676 billion VND out of a total of 1,616 billion VND of construction value, equivalent to about 41.8%. Land clearance work has handed over more than 42km out of a total of 48km, reaching about 88%. The remaining area is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.
One of the biggest "blocks" of the project that Lao Dong Newspaper once reflected is site clearance and resettlement work. The Government Inspectorate determined that the feasibility study report did not fully determine the workload to calculate the cost of site clearance correctly and fully, leading to a lack of capital, forcing adjustments to increase the total investment. In fact, many households have to relocate and temporarily reside while resettlement areas are not completed, directly affecting the project progress.
According to the Quang Tri Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board, so far only the resettlement area in Nam Dong Ha ward has been completed. The remaining areas are being urgently deployed, many areas reaching from 60% to 90% of the volume, expected to be completed by the end of 2025 and early 2026. The investor said that he has sent officials to closely monitor the area, coordinate with local authorities to remove obstacles regarding land origin, relocate technical infrastructure and mobilize people to hand over land.
Regarding construction, many important items such as large bridges, roadbeds, and drainage culverts are being implemented in parallel. Some bidding packages have achieved a implementation rate of over 50%, showing efforts to accelerate after a long period of delay.
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