Construction begins on the Loc An-Binh Son resettlement area for households affected by the Long Thanh International Airport project in Dong Nai province. — (Photo: nhandan.com.vn) Dong Nai (VNA) - Thesouthern province of Dong Nai has mobilised all resources to speed upthe progress of several major transport projects, including the LongThanh International Airport.
The projectsare expected to drive sustainable economic growth not only for theprovince but also for the Southern Key Economic Region and theentire country.
TheLong Thanh International Airport,the country’s largest-ever project, will cost 336.63 trillion VND (14.53 billion USD). Its construction is divided into threephases. The first phase is expected to begin construction next year.
Morethan 5,000ha of land, which belongs to 18 organisationsand nearly 5,300 households with a total of 15,000 people in Long Thanh district, have to be cleared to buildthe airport. Another 364ha will be required to build the tworesettlement sites.
Thetotal cost for ground clearance, compensation and resettlementsupport is estimated at nearly 23 trillion VND (992 million USD).
Theprovince is set to give priority to site clearance on an area covering 1,810ha. It has paidcompensation to the Dong Nai Rubber Corporation toacquire 1,180ha owned by the company to build two resettlementareas in Loc An and Binh Son communes in Long Thanh district.
About130ha has been acquired from 330 households with compensationpayments of more than 625 billion VND (27million USD).
Compensationrates and detailed compensation plans are being considered for theremaining area and are expected to be handed over for construction of theairport in October.
Most ofthe affected households have agreed to the compensation and support offered.
PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in July asked theprovincial authority to complete site clearance for all land for theairport project next year. To achieve the goal, compensationpayments to all affected households must be completed by the end of this year.
Le Van Tiep, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’sCommittee, said about 50 staff from departments and branches moved to LongThanh district last year to carry out theproject’s land compensation and site clearance.
But thedistrict authority asked for 40 additional staff due to the heavyworkload. The additional staff moved to the district in Augustto help speed up the work.
Anumber of other key transport projects are being implemented in theprovince.
Theyinclude Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway between Long An and Dong Naiprovinces, Phan Thiet - Dau Giay Expressway between Binh Thuan and Dong Nai provinces, Dau Giay Intersection, and Ring Road No 3 linkingHCM City with Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces.
PhanThiet - Dau Giay Expressway is an easternsection of the North-South Expressway with a total length of nearly100km. The section passing through Dong Nai province will extend more than 51km.
Atotal of 412ha area is needed to build the expressway. Land clearancetasks for the project construction are nearly completed.
Theprovince has approved a compensation plan for the remaining 342 households and10 organisations affected by the project in Xuan Loc district. Itaims to complete compensation payments and hand over all land for constructionof the project in September.
Ina related matter, a number of key transport projects in the province havebeen delayed due to land clearance problems.
The Dau Giay Intersection project, for example, willreduce traffic congestion at the intersection between national highways No1A and 20 in Thong Nhat district. But it has been delayed for more than two years.
Delayswere caused partly by slow compensation payments to affectedhouseholds, causing compensation and resettlement support costs toincrease by more than 5 times compared to the originalfinancial plan.
Thecost has increased to 130 billion VND (5.6million USD) from 22 billion VNd (950,000 USD).
Theprovincial People’s Committee hasproposed that the Government direct the Ministry of Transport to work withrelevant units to arrange capital sources to complete the intersection project.
CaoTien Dũng, chairman of thecommittee, said the province has asked all departments, branches and localitiesto make efforts to speed up site clearanceand disbursement of funds.
Ithas set up a steering committee to create relevant proceduresrelated to the projects, as well as monthly checks and monitoring ofthe projects’ progress so that problems can be solved promptly.
The leaders ofthe province are working with relevant agencies weekly to urgeprogress in land acquisition, compensation, resettlement andvocational training for locals affected by the projects.
Thecommittee has told local authorities to prepare for theconstruction of resettlement areas. If the districts need capital, theywill be allowed to advance investment capital to build the resettlement areas./.
VNA
