On August 14, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Can Tho City issued an official dispatch responding to a question raised by Lao Dong Newspaper at a meeting of press and radio agencies in the second quarter of 2025.
Accordingly, Lao Dong Newspaper asked, why is the 7km National Highway 91 upgrade project overcharged with more than VND3,000 billion, the reason for the excess figure being too large (more than 1/2 of the total estimate for compensation and site clearance costs)? Is it due to initial miscalculation, or is it due to adjustments in the implementation process to save the budget? If it is wrong, is there a fault, who is at fault? If it is due to budget adjustment, what initiatives need to be commended and rewarded?
Regarding the above issue, the response document of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Can Tho City informed that the National Highway 91 Upgrade and Expansion Project (Km0 - Km7) of Can Tho City requires a total construction area of 27 hectares (of which, the land area requiring site clearance is 7 hectares and the land area managed by the State is 20 hectares) with a total of households and organizations affected about 1,079 cases.
According to the response document of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Can Tho City, the project was previously named the project to expand National Highway 91 from the bus station intersection to Tra Noc and assigned the Department of Transport of Can Tho (old) as the investor. During the implementation process, there were difficulties in site clearance, so the project had to be suspended and terminated. Currently, the project is assigned to the Traffic and Agriculture Project Management Board of Can Tho City as the investor.
According to the report of the Can Tho City Traffic and Agricultural Project Management Board, the total cost of site clearance for the project is about VND 2,500 billion (the cost of site clearance for the project is about VND 5,556 billion).
The document stated that for the surplus costs, the investor is studying and advising the competent authority to consider investing in resettlement areas to serve the resettlement needs of people affected by the National Highway 91 expansion project and key projects in the city.
Regarding the responsibility for calculating GPMB cost data, the document stated that according to regulations, the consulting contractor is the unit that conducts measurements and statistics of GPMB area, responsible for coordinating with relevant agencies, studying local compensation policies and mechanisms for GPMB to calculate and propose costs.
During the process of organizing the preparation and appraisal of costs in the total investment of the project, there was the participation of relevant agencies and units.
The document also stated that currently, the investor is coordinating with the Department of Construction, the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the City Land Fund Development Center and related units to review and determine the project's site clearance costs. When directed by the City People's Committee, the Department of Construction will coordinate with relevant units to review which stage the errors are in, thereby advising the City People's Committee to have solutions to handle them according to regulations.
Also related to the above issue, the Management Board of Investment and Construction of Traffic and Agricultural Works informed that the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 91 (section from Km0 - Km7) of Can Tho City is invested by the Department of Transport (old) and performs the task of preparing for investment until the investment project is submitted for approval.
The City Traffic and Agricultural Construction Investment Project Management Board (formerly the City Construction Investment Project Management Board) was assigned by the City People's Committee to receive the project from July 2024.
After receiving the project, the Project Management Board will continue to conduct surveys, design, construction and investment of the project. The City Land Fund Development Center is assigned the task of organizing the implementation of compensation, support and resettlement procedures for the project, including hiring consultants to determine specific compensation land prices.
Accordingly, the specific compensation land price approved is lower than the estimated land price for the investment preparation phase, leading to excess land acquisition costs for the project. This additional land acquisition cost will be reported to the competent authority for the policy to supplement necessary items of the project to promote investment efficiency or supplement investment in resettlement areas in localities to ensure resettlement land fund and promote investment capital efficiency.
