Started in May 2025, the XL-03 package under the Xuyen Tam canal renovation project has only reached about 6% of the volume. According to the plan, the section through An Nhon ward will be completed before April 30, 2026, while the section through Binh Loi Trung ward will be completed before September 2, 2026; the entire package is expected to be completed by November 2026.
However, there are still 29/138 households in An Nhon ward and 20 cases in Binh Hoa residential area (Binh Loi Trung ward) that have not yet handed over the land. Meanwhile, two important packages, XL-01 and XL-02, expected to start construction in November 2025, related to the relocation of 2,078 households, have not yet been handed over by the locality.
According to Mr. Dau An Phuc - Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Board, the biggest difficulty is that there are up to 394 cases of buying and selling, transferring by hand/license, so compensation policies are complicated and need to be studied appropriately for each ward.
In addition, 55 households that were previously subject to clearance of the Binh Hoa residential area project have now been converted to the clearance of the Xuyen Tam canal project, causing the compensation plan to be adjusted.
Determining the purchase, rental and rental prices of social housing, as well as the minimum resettlement rate, is still slow due to the need for time to calculate and announce, leading to a prolonged progress in site clearance. "We have recommended that relevant departments, branches, and People's Committees of wards hand over the entire site in November 2025 to ensure construction progress" - Mr. Phuc emphasized.
Not only Xuyen Tam canal, the project to renovate the North bank of Doi canal passing through Chanh Hung and Phu Dinh wards is also facing a similar situation. Although construction started in August 2025, only 985/1,605 households have agreed to hand over the site so far.
Faced with the above problems, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tran Luu Quang has recently directly inspected and requested relevant agencies to develop a Gantt diagram (work progress chart) to inspect, urge, and ensure compensation and site clearance for Xuyen Tam canal before the end of November 2025.
According to statistics, Ho Chi Minh City currently has 398 unnamed rivers, canals, and ditches, with about 39,600 houses that need to be relocated. The draft of the Political Report of the 1st Ho Chi Minh City Party Congress (term 2025 - 2030) sets a goal of relocating 50% of houses on and along canals by the end of 2030, equivalent to 20,000 houses. In the previous term, the city set a target of relocating 6,500 units, but it is expected that by the end of 2025, it will only reach 5,548 units, equivalent to 85.35%.
Dr. Tran Quang Thang - Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Economics and Management, delegate of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council - commented that the city needs to mobilize many resources such as issuing construction bonds, attracting foreign investment capital, calling on private enterprises to participate in public-private cooperation, and at the same time exploiting land funds after relocation to develop trade and housing. In particular, he said that it is necessary to prioritize resettlement on site or near old residences so that people can stabilize their lives and maintain the community.
