The Prime Minister has just issued Decision 799/QĐ-TTg on the approval of the adjustment of the investment plan for the Metro Line 1 (Bến Thành – Suối Tiên) project.
According to that, the completion time of the project construction is adjusted to the end of the fourth quarter of 2024. Other contents remain unchanged compared to the approved investment plan for the project.
The Prime Minister assigned the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to implement the approval of the project adjustment and organize the implementation of the project in accordance with the law, ensuring quality and efficiency; having a binding commitment of responsibility for the parties, penalty measures, and proactively taking measures to resolve difficulties and obstacles, committing to implement the project according to the schedule.
At the same time, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City actively and proactively takes measures to mediate or handle the case appropriately for contractors who are currently complaining, not to let the difficulties related to the complaints of contractors prolong and affect the completion of the project.
The People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City is responsible before the law, before the Prime Minister, inspection agencies, and audit agencies for the accuracy and truthfulness of the information and data reported; allocates sufficient funds for the project.
As the first urban railway project in Ho Chi Minh City, Metro Line 1 was approved in 2007 with a total investment of over 17,000 billion dong.
The project was started in August 2012, and it was expected to be completed and put into operation in 2018. However, the construction process encountered many difficulties and obstacles, so Metro Line 1 did not meet the scheduled deadline.
In 2019, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City approved the project adjustment, increasing the total investment to over 43,700 billion dong and delaying the completion and commercial operation to the fourth quarter of 2021.
However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the delay in signing the supplementary contract for consulting services, etc., the project continued to be delayed.
In April 2023, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City approved the adjustment of the time to implement the Metro Line 1 project, specifying the completion time of the construction work to the end of the fourth quarter of 2023. The time for reporting project defects of contractors is prolonged from 2024 to the end of 2025, and the time for supporting operation and maintenance is from 2024 to the end of 2028.
However, according to the report of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, the project's implementation progress has reached approximately 98%.
To put the project into commercial operation, in 2024, the project investor needs to complete some tasks such as: completing the construction of some packages; conducting acceptance tests; evaluating and issuing safety certificates; handing over infrastructure assets...
Therefore, the Metro Line 1 project needs to adjust the completion time of the construction work from the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 to the end of the fourth quarter of 2024 to have a basis for continuing to disburse funds.
Ho Chi Minh City is making efforts to put Metro Line 1 into commercial operation by the end of 2024.
