On March 26, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Board (the investor) said that although the goal is to complete the entire project by the end of 2026, the actual progress is currently slower than planned.
The project to renovate the Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len canal was started on February 23, 2023. To date, the accepted construction volume has reached about 67%.
In which, the embankment item, drainage system and connection discharge gates are completed 98%. However, the traffic road and technical infrastructure only reached about 57%.
Notably, all 10 construction packages (from XL-01 to XL-10) are being delayed.
According to the investor, the reason for the slow progress comes from both objective and subjective factors.
Objectively, compensation and site clearance work still has 10 cases that have not been handed over, and there is even a situation where people obstruct construction, making some sections unable to be deployed.
In addition, the failure to approve the landfill locations has caused the process of digging the roadbed and dredging the canal bed to be stalled due to the lack of a gathering place.
The greater difficulty lies in the source of materials. Construction sand and stone continue to be scarce, and rising prices disrupt construction plans.
In particular, the source of asphalt concrete - an important material for transportation items - is seriously lacking. The total demand of the project is about 180,850 tons, but currently only about 30% is met.
From a subjective perspective, some contractors are assessed as not being proactive in organizing construction, lacking coordination in the joint venture. The lack of preparation of materials, labor, and equipment in the context of scarcity further makes progress passive.
Faced with the risk of delays, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Board said it is implementing a series of solutions to "untie the knot".
First of all, focus on definitively handling land issues. Leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and the Department of Agriculture and Environment have directed the review and urging of relevant localities.
At the same time, early approval of excess soil dumps is considered a prerequisite for clearing construction, especially for excavation and dredging of canals.
Regarding materials, the investor proposed to support the designation of a quarry to serve the project, and at the same time create conditions to import sand from Cambodia to ensure supply.
In the construction organization stage, the Board is tightening the management of contractors. Many measures have been applied such as strengthening construction site inspections, making detailed records of each location behind schedule, and closely monitoring the capacity to mobilize human resources, machinery and materials.
Contractors who are behind schedule are continuously reminded, warned and directly convened for meetings. If there is no improvement, they will be penalized according to the contract, even transferring the volume to another unit with better capacity in the same consortium.
The project to improve the environment and build infrastructure along the Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Rach Nuoc Len canal was started in February 2023, with a total initial investment of 8,200 billion VND, after adjusting to more than 9,000 billion VND.
The canal is nearly 32 km long, built with concrete embankments on both banks, dredging the canal bed, building a road along the canal 8 - 12 m wide, installing drainage systems, lighting, green trees; building 19 drainage culverts, 12 wharves and 3 connecting bridges.
According to the initial plan, the project was expected to be completed on April 30, 2025. However, the project was delayed and the implementation time was adjusted to 2026.
