In the early days of July, in the atmosphere towards the 50th anniversary of Saigon - Gia Dinh City honorably named after President Ho Chi Minh (July 2, 1976 - July 2, 2026), at the Muong Chuoi tide-blocking culvert, dozens of engineers and workers are busy completing the final items such as the operating center building and auxiliary works to soon put the project into operation.
As the largest of the 6 main tide-preventing culverts of the project, Muong Chuoi culvert currently reaches about 94% of its volume. Important items such as piers, valve towers, boat docks, and main valve gates have been completed.
Mr. Nguyen Huu Manh - Engineer managing the construction of Muong Chuoi culvert - said that the collective of engineers, workers and the construction site management board are determined to bring the project to completion this year. However, the current progress cannot accelerate as expected due to financial difficulties to maintain continuous construction.
If financial problems are resolved, we only need about 60 days to complete the remaining work. The companionship and drastic direction of Ho Chi Minh City in removing difficulties for investors will be an important motivation for the project to reach the finish line soon" - Mr. Manh said.
At the Tan Thuan tide control gate, the construction atmosphere is also taking place urgently. Workers are completing the machine room, paving the yard and road, painting fences, cleaning the operating house, installing two gate valves for boats,... To date, Tan Thuan gate has completed about 95% of the volume.
Mr. Phan Quoc Dung - Chief Engineer of Tan Thuan culvert - said that he has been attached to the project for nearly 10 years, witnessing many times the project had to be temporarily suspended, so pressure is unavoidable. However, the team of engineers and workers still persistently sticks to the construction site with the desire that the project will be completed soon.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Bao - Deputy Director of Trungnam An Trieu Company (under Trungnam Group - the investor), the overall progress of the project has now reached more than 93%.
On the entire construction site, there are about 500 workers and 150 engineers working to complete the remaining items.
The goal is to basically complete the main items around October 2026, then move to the trial operation and comprehensive inspection phase before putting the project into synchronous operation" - Mr. Bao said.
According to Mr. Bao, after nearly 5 years of suspension, the project was restarted from the beginning of 2026. Despite facing many difficulties in cash flow, the enterprise still proactively used its own capital to maintain construction. However, to date, the investor has not received payment from Ho Chi Minh City.
To remove the biggest bottleneck currently, the investor representative proposed that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee soon complete the determination of the value of land plots used for project payment, and at the same time supplement the corresponding land fund to ensure payment according to the principle of equal price.
At a working session with the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee on June 13, Politburo Member, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung requested Ho Chi Minh City to urgently remove all obstacles and complete the project in 2026.
Recently, the Government Office also announced the conclusion of Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Tuc after a meeting with Ho Chi Minh City on the project.
Government leaders requested the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to focus on definitively handling obstacles, completing the project and putting it into operation in 2026 according to the direction of General Secretary, President To Lam, the Prime Minister and in accordance with the city's commitments. At the same time, they affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City currently has sufficient authority to resolve the remaining problems.
To unlock financial resources, BIDV - the intermediary unit receiving and re-financing from the State Bank for the project - also proposed to support investors to complete the project this year if Ho Chi Minh City allocates land.
The Government leader assigned the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to decide and direct the agreement and consensus with the investor, soon thoroughly handle the existing problems of the project, ensure compliance with regulations, and prevent loss, waste or negative developments.
