The report on the decision to adjust the investment policy for the project to build infrastructure and improve the environment of Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len canal was submitted by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council at the 19th session this morning (November 14).
The total initial investment capital of the project is 8,200 billion VND, of which 4,000 billion VND comes from the central budget and the rest comes from the Ho Chi Minh City budget.
Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee proposed to adjust the total investment to more than VND9,030 billion (an increase of about VND830 billion).
Explaining this, the HCMC People's Committee said that the project needs an additional VND205 billion for site clearance and technical infrastructure relocation. Most of this cost will be spent on relocating 7 high-voltage power poles, upgrading 2 500kV power lines according to standards and re-establishing construction items in the Go Cat landfill area.
In addition, construction costs also increased by VND 917 billion due to the need to add essential infrastructure works such as: Traffic roads in the area of the Vam Thuat and Nuoc Len tidal control sluice project; construction of a water intake system for fire prevention and fighting; installation of 39 new tidal gates for existing sluices, along with temporary bridges serving people's traffic at Da Han canal, Hong Ky sluice, etc.
In contrast, some other expenses and provisions were adjusted down by more than VND292 billion.
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also proposed extending the project implementation period from 2021 to 2026, instead of ending in 2025 as originally planned.
With a length of 32.7 km, Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len canal flows through 7 districts, including: District 12, Binh Tan, Tan Phu, Tan Binh, Go Vap, Binh Thanh and Binh Chanh district.
The project to renovate this canal started in February 2023, with items such as building concrete embankments on both banks, dredging the canal bed, building 8-12 m wide roads along both sides, installing drainage, lighting, and tree systems, along with 19 drainage culverts, 12 boat docks, and 3 connecting bridges.
Ho Chi Minh City has planned to complete the project by April 30, 2025.
However, according to a recent report by the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Board (investor), construction progress has only reached 37.9% after nearly two years of implementation.
In 2024, the project was assigned a disbursement capital of VND 3,400 billion, but the investor is expected to be able to disburse only VND 1,028 billion, equivalent to 30.23% of the plan.
Currently, the project is facing difficulties such as lack of dumping site for soil and mud from the canal dredging process, 21 cases of re-encroachment of land, etc.
