The Project to Strengthen Traffic Connectivity in the Central Highlands region (also known as the National Highway 19 Upgrade Project, Gia Lai province) invested by Project Management Board 2 (Ministry of Construction), has a total route length of more than 143km, with a total investment of more than 3,650 billion VND.
To date, the project has been completed but has not been accepted and handed over to local management. After two consecutive natural disasters in November 2025 - storm No. 13 and historic floods, many road surfaces on National Highway 19 section passing through An Khe Pass have appeared damaged and degraded.
According to records, in many locations on An Khe Pass, the asphalt concrete road surface is subsided, deformed, forming potholes and ditches, posing a potential risk of traffic unsafety for vehicles traveling, especially motorbikes and heavy trucks when going downhill.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh T. (31 years old, residing in Gia Lai province), a service car driver, angrily said: "The road is newly built but damaged too quickly, especially after heavy rains. Pass roads are steep and like that, vehicles travel very dangerously, need to be repaired immediately.
Faced with the above situation, the Department of Construction of Gia Lai province has requested Project Management Board 2 to urgently overcome the existing problems on National Highway 19 under the project.
According to the Department of Construction of Gia Lai province, through inspection of the scene, landslides continued to occur at the positive taluy slopes in the An Khe Pass area, soil and rocks spilled onto the road surface, burying vertical drainage ditches, affecting traffic flow and exploitation of the road.
In particular, landslide locations and damaged trenches in the An Khe pass area have not been repaired according to the direction of the Ministry of Construction, causing anxiety and potential dangers for people and vehicles when traveling through the route.
Gia Lai Provincial Department of Construction requested Project Management Board 2 to direct relevant units to urgently remove landslide soil and rocks onto the road surface, and soon overcome the shortcomings and defects of the project items.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, a representative of Project Management Board 2 said that the damaged locations on An Khe Pass belong to bidding package XL01, constructed by Bac Trung Nam Joint Stock Company.
Faced with this situation, Project Management Board 2 has requested the contractor to urgently handle the site defects to serve the acceptance and handover of the bidding package. However, the contractor has not completely repaired the road surface damage as well as other defects such as drainage ditches, guardrails, and culverts that are locally damaged, and has not cleaned up and cleared the ground.
Currently, the weather on the pass still frequently experiences rain, so the contractor cannot remove the damaged locations to re-asphalt, only leveling to ensure temporary traffic. The contractor has committed to completely overcome all damages before the Lunar New Year," said a representative of Project Management Board 2.
The investor also explained that before the November 2025 rain and storm, the surface of National Highway 19 was very smooth. However, after the natural disaster, many roads in the province were damaged, causing vehicles to rush to circulate on National Highway 19. The volume of vehicles increased sharply, combined with the impact of rain and storms, causing localized damage to the road surface in some locations.
The project is expected to be handed over in the first quarter of 2026. Therefore, the problems of road surface damage will be thoroughly overcome, in order to ensure conditions for project acceptance and handover according to regulations," said a representative of Project Management Board 2.
