According to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper on the morning of February 11, the hospital building, exposed to the sun and rain, looked like a desolate construction site, with overgrown grass and trees, and construction materials piled up in a mess, while equipment and machinery were rusted over time.
Observations show that inside the construction site, sand, rocks, and scaffolding are scattered, and many places are soaked with water. According to research, from June 2022 to now, the construction volume of the project has only reached about 21.3%. In the past 3 years, no workers have been working at the construction site.
On February 11, speaking with Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Pham Quang Dung - Executive Officer (Executive Board of Construction of Can Tho City Oncology Hospital Project, contractor Bach Dang Construction Corporation) - said that the suspension of construction in the past 3 years has caused huge losses to the unit, and it is impossible to accurately calculate the financial situation.
"First of all, the bank interest is increasing every month. Expenses such as electricity, water, salaries, etc. have not been paid. Most of the walls are covered with moss and damaged. All machinery and equipment at the construction site have not been used for the past 3 years, leading to damage and deterioration, from scaffolding, formwork to steel," said Mr. Dung.
Mr. Pham Quang Dung added that in June 2024, thieves stole air conditioning pipes, causing damage of about 700 - 800 million VND. Currently, the project campus is quite large, with many rooms. Although people are hired to clean the grass regularly, the grass still grows wildly, blocking the view, and security guards cannot control it all.
According to executive officer Pham Quang Dung, the estimated monthly damage is from 500 to 600 million VND. Furthermore, if the construction resumes, the unit will have to spend a lot of money to maintain, repair equipment, renovate and clean the entire wall. It is estimated that it will need about 5 to 6 billion VND to redo, not to mention the construction materials.
Previously, on the afternoon of February 7, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on the draft resolution on principles, criteria and norms for allocating public investment capital for the 2026-2030 period. Here, mentioning the Can Tho Oncology Hospital project, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man requested the Ministry of Planning and Investment to focus on resolving it and put it into use soon.
"The hospital has been built and abandoned for several years. I have been there several times and I am very anxious about it," the National Assembly Chairman shared, emphasizing priority for urgent projects, especially unfinished projects that need capital allocation to be completely resolved.
The investment project to build Can Tho City Oncology Hospital (scale of 500 beds) was decided and approved by Can Tho City People's Committee on January 25, 2017 with a total investment of more than 1,700 billion VND from ODA loans from the Hungarian Government and counterpart capital of Can Tho City, invested by the Department of Health. The hospital is expected to be completed after 3 years (end of 2020) to become the largest and most modern oncology hospital in the Mekong Delta.
Due to the expiration of the loan contract, the project has only completed more than 21% of the contract value for the general contractor of design, equipment supply, technology and construction. Of which, the construction item has reached 82%, the construction equipment supply and installation item has completed more than 16%.
