He urged the parties concerned to make every effort to put the first phase of the project, worth nearly 10 trillion VND (430.8 million USD), into operation in late 2019.
“This project plays a very important role in preventing flooding in a 570sq.m central area and along the Saigon River, an area with 6.5 million people,” Nhan said.
He asked six districts to speed up compensation and site clearance so that land can be handed over to the investor – Nam Trung Group before the end of June.
Six tide-control gates at Ben Nghe, Tan Thuan, Phu Xuan, Muong Chuoi, Cay Kho and Phu Dinh, as well as flood control dykes, are being built in districts 1,4,7,8, Binh Chanh and Nha Be.
    |
 |
|
HCM City leaders on March 12 check the progress of the Tan Thuan sewage system, a multi-trillion VND flood-prevention project in District 7 |
Begun in 2016, the project resumed in February after being suspended in April last year.
Nguyen Tam Tien, CEO of Trung Nam Group, said the project had faced problems in the disbursement of loans and land clearance. “If the city hands over land for the project in June, we pledge to complete the project by the end of this year. It is already 72 percent complete.”
Representatives of the six districts promised to hand over the land to the investor in June.
Tran Vinh Tuyen, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said the districts should collect the land for the investor before June 30. “If not completed, the heads of localities must be responsible to the city People’s Committee.”
The municipal People’s Committee would work with the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to provide loan term extensions for the investor, he added.
The unit to operate and manage the project must have sufficient skills and technical qualifications, he said.
In January next year, the city People’s Committee should hire a unit to operate the project after it is completed.
The municipal Department of Construction has submitted a plan to the People’s Committee to develop 218 anti-flooding projects this year, with total investment of nearly 8 trillion VND (345 million USD). Of the figure, 77 projects were carried over from last year.
This year, the city is also dredging rivers and canals, and repairing damaged sewer systems.
Source: VNA