Waste in hospitals 1,700 billion VND
The investment project to build Can Tho City Oncology Hospital (scale of 500 beds) was decided and approved by Can Tho City People's Committee on January 25, 2017 with a total investment of more than 1,700 billion VND from ODA loans from the Hungarian Government and counterpart capital of Can Tho City, invested by the Department of Health. The hospital is expected to be completed after 3 years (end of 2020) to become the largest and most modern oncology hospital in the Mekong Delta.
However, due to the expiration of the loan contract, from 2022, the project will temporarily stop construction when only more than 21% of the contract value for the general contractor of design, equipment supply, technology and construction has been completed.
Mr. Pham Quang Dung - executive officer (Executive Board of Construction of Can Tho City Oncology Hospital Project) - said that all machinery and equipment gathered at the construction site for the past 3 years have not been used, from scaffolding, formwork, steel... all have degraded. There are still no exact statistics on this waste, but basically it is "very large".
"We really hope that relevant authorities will resolutely resolve this issue," Mr. Dung shared.
Mr. Vo Van Kha - Director of Can Tho City Oncology Hospital - informed that since the construction of the new hospital was stopped, the hospital has urgently requested to invest in a new accelerator radiotherapy system to replace the outdated Cobalt radiotherapy machine (put into use in 2010) at the old facility.
"If the hospital does not promptly invest in equipment as soon as possible, the hospital may have to stop operating the radiotherapy system" - Mr. Kha predicted.
Both investment problems occurring at the same time are "bottlenecks" in the development of Can Tho City Oncology Hospital into one of the specialized medical centers in the Mekong Delta region, according to Resolution No. 59 dated August 5, 2020 of the Politburo on building and developing Can Tho City to 2030, with a vision to 2045.
Currently, Can Tho Department of Health is asking for approval to invest in a new radiotherapy machine (located at the old facility) and restart the new hospital project.
Traffic projects with increased capital
On November 12, at the 17th session (special session), the People's Council of Can Tho City, term X, 2021 - 2026, passed 14 resolutions, including resolutions adjusting the investment policy of 4 traffic projects, including: Project to upgrade and expand Provincial Road (DT) 917, 918 (phase 2), 923 and project DT921, straight section (starting point intersecting with Thot Not bypass, ending point intersecting with Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway).
Based on the summary comparison of the total investment after adjustment according to each Proposal, these 4 traffic projects after adjustment will increase investment capital by about more than 963 billion VND. The reason for the increase in total investment for the above traffic projects is due to the increase in compensation unit price; labor unit price, construction machine unit price increase...
Also at this meeting, Can Tho approved the proposal for opinions on the public investment plan for the period 2026-2030 of the City People's Committee, including the Western Ring Road project. The investment capital for this project will increase from VND3,837 billion to VND6,601 billion, nearly VND2,800 billion more than the initial announcement.
Initially, the project cost 829 billion VND for site clearance. Up to now, this source of money has been fully paid and exceeded by 146 billion VND, but the site has only been cleared and handed over about 50%.
Resolutely handle responsibility
On November 8, Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee Tran Viet Truong signed a document urgently implementing the Prime Minister's telegram on focusing on resolving backlog projects, stopping construction, urgently implementing completion, putting into use to prevent waste and loss. Mr. Tran Viet Truong requested to effectively implement the Government's resolutions and the Prime Minister's instructions on effectively using resources, quickly implementing works and projects, avoiding loss and waste, especially backlog projects, stopping construction, hospitals (including the Can Tho City Oncology Hospital project), student dormitories... according to the Prime Minister's direction in Telex 112.
The Director of the Department of Home Affairs shall preside over and coordinate with the Directors of the Departments of Planning and Investment, Construction, Finance and heads of relevant units to urgently review and advise on measures to handle responsibilities of individuals and organizations that cause projects and works to be delayed for a long time; resolutely replace or transfer to other jobs cadres and civil servants with weak capacity, who do not dare to do, avoid, push, work half-heartedly, are afraid of responsibility, are late and do not meet the requirements of assigned work in resolving related issues that cause projects and works to be delayed, prolonged, and waste resources.
