The Ministry of Transport has again asked the Vietnam InfrastructureDevelopment and Finance Investment Joint Stock Company (VIDIFI) to speedup construction on the delayed Hanoi–Hai Phong expressway in order tocomplete it by the end of 2015.
Tin Tuc (News) newspaper found that barely 80 percent of the road had been finished.
Aftera recent inspection, Transport Minister Dinh La Thang demanded theproject complete the section between Hai Phong and Hai Duong beforeApril 30.
VIDIFI chief executive officer Dao Van Chien said theproject's bid packages EX1B, EX2 and EX4 were lagging behind scheduledue to the contractors' lack of money, workers and equipment. The EX1Bpackage, implemented by a consortium of Phuc Loc Construction Companyand the Petroleum Construction and Investment Joint Stock Company, wasmore than two months behind schedule.
The EX2 package, undertakenby Namkwang and EX4 package by Keangnam (both from the Republic ofKorea), was also progressing at a snail's pace due to the fact that bothcontractors owed their sub-contractors money.
Minister Thangordered the contractors of the EX5 and EX6 packages running through HaiDuong province, who are still struggling to handle the weak foundationof the road, to have employees work through the Tet holiday. He alsotold the contractors to work with authorities in the five provinces thatthe road runs through to ensure work safety.
For the package EX4implemented by Keangnam, the minister dictated that VIDIFI withdraw itsguarantee from the Korean contractor and sign a new contract with asubstitute.
For the package EX1 running through Hanoi's Gia Lamdistrict, the ministry chief asked the consortium of Cienco 1 and Cienco4 to make sure that they met the deadline because that would determinethe speed of the whole project. Since the project had gotten severalextensions, it could not be delayed any longer.
"There is notmuch time left, so the project owner and contractors must pull out allthe stops to meet the deadline," Minister Thang said.
TheMinister assigned his deputy, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong, tohold briefings about the project at least once a month to provideupdates and resolve any issues.
Last July, during a supervisingtour of the delayed packages, Minister Thang issued an ultimatum to thesub-contractors that if they did not improve, they would be banned frombidding for other projects in Vietnam.
The six-lane Hanoi – HaiPhong expressway runs from Hanoi's Ring Road 3 to Hai Phong's Dinh VuPort with the speed limit of 120 km/h.
Going through Hanoi, HungYen, Hai Duong and Hai Phong, the project carries an investment tag of45.5 trillion VND (2.13 billion USD). It will cut the traveling timefrom Hanoi to Hai Phong's seaport from the current three hours to one.-VNA
Tin Tuc (News) newspaper found that barely 80 percent of the road had been finished.
Aftera recent inspection, Transport Minister Dinh La Thang demanded theproject complete the section between Hai Phong and Hai Duong beforeApril 30.
VIDIFI chief executive officer Dao Van Chien said theproject's bid packages EX1B, EX2 and EX4 were lagging behind scheduledue to the contractors' lack of money, workers and equipment. The EX1Bpackage, implemented by a consortium of Phuc Loc Construction Companyand the Petroleum Construction and Investment Joint Stock Company, wasmore than two months behind schedule.
The EX2 package, undertakenby Namkwang and EX4 package by Keangnam (both from the Republic ofKorea), was also progressing at a snail's pace due to the fact that bothcontractors owed their sub-contractors money.
Minister Thangordered the contractors of the EX5 and EX6 packages running through HaiDuong province, who are still struggling to handle the weak foundationof the road, to have employees work through the Tet holiday. He alsotold the contractors to work with authorities in the five provinces thatthe road runs through to ensure work safety.
For the package EX4implemented by Keangnam, the minister dictated that VIDIFI withdraw itsguarantee from the Korean contractor and sign a new contract with asubstitute.
For the package EX1 running through Hanoi's Gia Lamdistrict, the ministry chief asked the consortium of Cienco 1 and Cienco4 to make sure that they met the deadline because that would determinethe speed of the whole project. Since the project had gotten severalextensions, it could not be delayed any longer.
"There is notmuch time left, so the project owner and contractors must pull out allthe stops to meet the deadline," Minister Thang said.
TheMinister assigned his deputy, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong, tohold briefings about the project at least once a month to provideupdates and resolve any issues.
Last July, during a supervisingtour of the delayed packages, Minister Thang issued an ultimatum to thesub-contractors that if they did not improve, they would be banned frombidding for other projects in Vietnam.
The six-lane Hanoi – HaiPhong expressway runs from Hanoi's Ring Road 3 to Hai Phong's Dinh VuPort with the speed limit of 120 km/h.
Going through Hanoi, HungYen, Hai Duong and Hai Phong, the project carries an investment tag of45.5 trillion VND (2.13 billion USD). It will cut the traveling timefrom Hanoi to Hai Phong's seaport from the current three hours to one.-VNA
