This afternoon (September 23), Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang will inspect the Xuyen Tam canal renovation project.
Xuyen Tam Canal is nearly 9 km long, connecting from Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal to Vam Thuat river, flowing through An Nhon ward (old Go Vap district), Gia Dinh, Binh Thanh and Binh Loi Trung (old Binh Thanh district).
The main route is 6.7 km long, connecting from Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal to Vam Thuat river; the remaining three branch lines are about 2.2 km long.
The total investment of the project is over VND17,000 billion, of which the cost of compensation, support and resettlement alone accounts for VND14,000 billion.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Board ( urban Infrastructure Board - investor), the project needs to reclaim land from more than 2,230 households and organizations. However, up to now, the site clearance progress is still very slow, greatly affecting the construction plan.
The XL-03 package (through An Nhon and Binh Loi Trung wards) started construction in May 2025, currently reaching about 6% of the volume, expected to reach 30% by the end of this year.
According to the plan, this package will open the route (embankment, drainage system, sewer, traffic road, sidewalk, lighting and trees) on the An Nhon ward side before April 30, 2026; open the route on the Binh Loi Trung ward side before September 2, 2026. Complete the entire project and put it into use in November 2026.
However, there are still 29/138 households in An Nhon ward and 20 cases in Binh Hoa residential area (Binh Loi Trung ward) that have not yet handed over the site. The investor requires the wards to complete in October and November 2025 to keep up with the schedule.
Meanwhile, two large packages XL-01 (from Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal to Bui Dinh Tuy bridge, including Cau Son canal) and XL-02 (from Bui Dinh Tuy bridge to Luong Ngoc Quyen street, including Binh Loi canal and Binh Trieu canal) are expected to start construction in November 2025 but are facing serious difficulties in terms of land.
In Binh Thanh district, out of a total of 2,078 households needing to reclaim land, there were 314 households in Binh Loi Trung ward, 872 households in Gia Dinh and 892 households in Binh Thanh ward.
Up to now, the Compensation and Site Clearance Board of Binh Thanh District has paid 916 households, but only 115 households have handed over the site (59 households in Binh Thanh Ward, 54 households in Gia Dinh Ward and 2 households in Binh Loi Trung Ward).
The Urban Infrastructure Board said that compensation work is currently facing a series of difficulties. In many cases, buying, selling, transferring, or donating real estate is only done with handwritten documents or certificates (394 cases). In addition, the project has difficulty determining rental prices, rental prices for social housing; controversy over the minimum resettlement rate, etc.
The investor has recommended that the People's Committees of relevant wards and the Compensation and Site Clearance Board of Binh Thanh District speed up procedures and hand over the site in October 2025 to start construction of packages XL-01 and XL-02.
In 2025, the project was allocated VND 1,860 billion in public investment capital. To date, only 174 billion VND has been disbursed, reaching 9.37%. The investor expects to disburse about VND930 billion (50% of the plan) for the whole year, including advance payments for XL-01, XL-02 contracts and construction volume XL-03.
If supported by departments and branches to resolve the issue, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Board said it would disburse more than VND1,100 billion, equivalent to 60% of the capital plan.
The Xuyen Tam canal renovation project includes the following items: dredging the canal bed to a depth of 3.5 m, widening the canal bed from 20 - 30 m, building a synchronous wastewater and rainwater collection system.
On both sides of the canal, a 6 m wide traffic road will be built (each side has two lanes), a 3-4 m wide sidewalk with a system of parks and trees.
The entire project is expected to be completed in 2028, not only improving the environment, forming a drainage system, canals and parks, but also opening up public space, contributing to changing the appearance of the inner city of Ho Chi Minh City.
