Many large projects are stuck with site clearance
In mid-May 2026, along Xuyen Tam canal through Binh Thanh, Gia Dinh and Binh Loi Trung wards, many households were busy dismantling houses and relocating assets to hand over land.
The Xuyen Tam canal renovation project is one of the major urban embellishment projects of Ho Chi Minh City, with a total compensation capital of nearly 14,000 billion VND. The city must recover land from 2,190 cases, including 897 cases of partial clearance and 1,293 cases of total clearance.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Project Management Board, 1,070 sites have been handed over so far, reaching about 49%. However, sites are still scattered, not connected, causing difficulties for synchronous construction, especially at packages XL-01 and XL-02. If the handover progress continues to be slow, the project completion target in the third quarter of 2028 will be difficult to achieve.
Not only Xuyen Tam canal, the project to expand National Highway 13 section passing through Hiep Binh ward is also facing difficulties in compensation and resettlement.
The project affects 1,041 cases, including 213 cases of full clearance and 828 cases of partial clearance. Initially, Ho Chi Minh City arranged 178 land plots and resettlement apartments, including 147 land plots and 31 apartments.
However, the implementation process has generated a large resettlement demand. Hiep Binh Ward People's Committee said that there are currently more than 250 cases that need land plots and 92 cases that need resettlement apartments, causing the project to lack 107 land plots and 61 apartments compared to actual needs. Up to now, only about 50 cases have handed over land.
Rach Xuyen Tam and National Highway 13 are 2 of more than 165 projects allocated for compensation and site clearance in 2026. In the total public investment plan of nearly 150,000 billion VND of Ho Chi Minh City, capital for compensation and site clearance accounts for nearly 34,000 billion VND; the city plans to add about 10,000 billion VND in the last 6 months of the year.
Accelerate site handover
Ho Chi Minh City sets a target to basically complete site clearance for a series of key projects by the end of 2026 such as Ring Road 2, Ring Road 4, Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway, Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai, National Highway 13, National Highway 22, National Highway 1, Xuyen Tam canal, Van Thanh canal, Saigon riverside route, Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park,...
Mr. Phan Quang Khanh - Chairman of Binh Thanh Ward People's Committee - said that the locality has 872 cases subject to land acquisition to serve the Xuyen Tam canal project. Up to now, 580 cases have agreed to hand over land.
At the National Highway 13 project, Mr. Vu Anh Tuan - Secretary of the Party Committee of Hiep Binh ward - said that according to the direction of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the entire site must be handed over in July.
The ward has launched the "30 Days and Nights Campaign", established 10 working groups including ward leaders, Fatherland Front, mass organizations and neighborhoods to go to each household to propagate and mobilize land handover.
The Cat Lai Ward Construction Investment Project Management Board supports a part of the cost of dismantling the project, hiring workers, excavators and transporting rubble, creating a spreading effect in the community.
In the first 4 months of 2026, Ho Chi Minh City disbursed more than 15,560 billion VND of public investment capital, reaching 10.5% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister.
To complete the target of 100% disbursement in 2026, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc requested units to accelerate from the second quarter. The city sets a target of disbursing over 20% by the end of May, 40-45% by the end of the second quarter, 70% by the third quarter and 100% by the end of the year.
The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee requested departments, branches, and localities to definitively handle obstacles in site clearance, planning, and bidding; increase field inspections and apply digital transformation to monitor project progress.
