Slow progress
Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee said that after a period of focusing on removing bottlenecks in compensation, site clearance, and resettlement of the National Highway 14E renovation and upgrading project, the province has so far handed over 62.2/71.38km of land, reaching over 87%. The province is determined to hand over the entire land before December 31, 2024.
Mr. Le Van Dung - Chairman of Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee - assessed that the project's progress was too slow, because the construction speed had not kept up with the site clearance progress. This responsibility lies with the investor and the capacity of the project's contractors.
Quang Nam provincial leaders requested Project Management Board 4, Vietnam Road Administration (investor) to have drastic solutions to speed up construction progress, promptly terminate contracts, replace contractors who do not ensure capacity; have plans for overtime, and work with the spirit of "overcoming the sun, overcoming the rain" to ensure progress.
Working with the leaders of Quang Nam province to discuss solutions to speed up the progress of site clearance for the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 14E recently, the representative of Project Management Board 4, Vietnam Road Administration admitted that the project's construction progress is slow. The investor has taken measures to terminate the contract and replace some contractors who do not ensure progress.
Mr. Que Hai Trung - Deputy Director of Project Management Board 4, Vietnam Road Administration - said that during the design process, some project items still had many shortcomings such as the drainage system being much higher than the ground level of houses along National Highway 14E. The investor will coordinate with localities in the project area to make adjustments soon.
People suffer because of patchwork construction
According to Lao Dong, the recent heavy rains have caused many damaged sections of the road at the construction site of the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 14E through Quang Nam, causing obstacles and difficulties for people to travel.
Along the 30km stretch from Thang Binh district to Hiep Duc district, many sections of the road surface are peeling and riddled with potholes. The narrow, heavily damaged road, which is under construction, has caused many cars and trucks to be stuck and unable to avoid each other, posing a danger to road users, especially during rush hour when students leave school.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (a resident of Binh Quy commune, Thang Binh district) said that since the project was implemented in 2023, a traffic "black spot" of more than 50m long has appeared through Quy Xuan village, Binh Quy commune, causing many people to have accidents.
The construction unit has repaired many times, but could not improve completely. Currently, people have to live in the "dusty sun, muddy rain", worried because of the density of hundreds of trucks and containers circulating every day, the risk of safety is very high.
The representative of Project Management Board 4 (project investor) said that the continuous rain has affected the construction progress and the roadbed has deteriorated. Therefore, the investor has requested the construction units to review and inspect the entire project as well as repair unsafe points. However, the project is both under construction and for traffic exploitation, so it also hopes that people will share.
“For the construction of the project passing through residential areas, we have directed the construction units to purchase insurance and the insurance payment for cases of cracked houses will be carried out in several stages. We will request the insurance to coordinate with the locality to determine the current status of the affected houses before the construction time to have a basis to assess the extent of damage and then pay compensation to the affected households,” added Mr. Que Hai Trung - Deputy Director of Project Management Board 4, Vietnam Road Administration.
The project to renovate and upgrade National Highway 14E through Thang Binh, Hiep Duc, Phuoc Son districts, Quang Nam has a total investment of more than 1,848 billion VND, from the State budget. In March 2023, the project officially started construction, expected to be completed in 2025. The project is divided into 3 packages; the consortium of Tan Hoang Long Investment and Construction Trading Joint Stock Company - Thuan An Construction and Trade Development Joint Stock Company (later changed to Thuan An Group Joint Stock Company) - Tay An Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company won the XD02 package to construct the section from km40+00 to km71+500. The winning price of the XD02 package is more than 507 billion VND.
