On the morning of November 18, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Board (UICI) held a groundbreaking ceremony for the XL-01 and XL-02 packages, the last two packages of the Xuyen Tam Canal dredging, environmental improvement and infrastructure construction project.
The XL-01 package has a range from Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal to Bui Dinh Tuy bridge, including Cau Son canal, about 2.94 km long. Package XL-02 continues from Bui Dinh Tuy Bridge to Luong Ngoc Quyen Street, including Binh Loi and Binh Trieu Canals. These are two sections with a large population, degraded infrastructure, flooding and pollution for many years.
According to the investor, the two packages were implemented by consortia, with a total value of more than VND 2,300 billion. The units have fully prepared human resources, machinery, and materials for construction immediately after the groundbreaking ceremony.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Bui Xuan Cuong emphasized that Xuyen Tam canal is an important infrastructure project with a large impact area with more than 2,000 households. He requested that compensation and resettlement work must be prioritized to both ensure construction site and stabilize people's lives.
Regarding progress, Mr. Cuong suggested that the XL-03 package that had started construction before should shorten the completion date from November 2026 to around September 2026. The two packages XL-01 and XL-02 started construction today and have an approval date until 2028, but Ho Chi Minh City requires striving to complete them in 2027. Immediately after the groundbreaking ceremony, contractors must immediately deploy construction, mobilize all necessary machinery and workers; organize construction in 3-4 shifts if necessary, taking advantage of the time the rainy season has ended to speed up, not allowing the work to start and then be delayed, Mr. Cuong directed.
He also noted that in 2025, the project was allocated VND1,800 billion but only disbursed nearly 50%, lower than the general level of Ho Chi Minh City, the Investor and contractor must speed up construction and disbursement, ensuring the completion of 100% of the capital plan. In terms of land, the four wards involved must hand over all in November according to the direction of the City Party Committee; any problems with resettlement and compensation must be reported immediately to be resolved.
"The city also requires wards to review and adjust the planning along the route to synchronize with the infrastructure after completion. Departments such as Construction, Architectural Planning, Finance... must accompany investors in quality supervision and capital allocation," said Mr. Cuong.
Today's groundbreaking marks the official implementation of all three packages of the Xuyen Tam canal project on the entire route. The project has a total length of nearly 9 km, a total investment of more than VND 17,000 billion from the City budget, including dredging items, renovating canals, building anti-landslide embankments, wastewater collection and drainage systems, traffic roads along both sides of the canals, parks and green areas. When completed, the project is expected to solve flooding and pollution that has lasted for many years, while forming a new traffic landscape axis, improving the living environment for tens of thousands of residents in Binh Thanh, Gia Dinh, Binh Loi Trung and An Nhon areas.
