A section of the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway project accros Bình Chánh District, HCM CIty. (Photo: vnexpres.net)
Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway (connecting Long An province to Dong Nai province) was lagging behind schedule due to difficulties in land clearance compensation in Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai province.
For example, HCM City’s Binh Chanh district has around 26 households that have not handed over their land, some of which have been caused by unresolved disputes. These families account for 2 percent of the affected households.
In addition, the plan for relocation of electricity pylons has not been completed.
Meanwhile, in Dong Nai, around 116 households have not handed over their land due to compensation procedures.
Dong told the Vietnam Expressway Corporation, the project investor, to work with Dong Nai and HCM City to push for completion of land clearance and relocation of affected households so that land can be handed over to the company in June.
According to the investor, if the city hands over the remaining land needed for the project soon, around 20km of the project (from Ben Luc to Nha Be district’s Nguyen Van Tao intersection) could open for traffic in September, while the remaining part leading to Dong Nai could be completed in 2020.
However, if the land is not handed over in June, the project will not be finished by the end of 2020, as requested by the Ministry of Transport.
Begun in 2014, the 31 trillion VND (1.3 billion USD) project, which is 57.7km long, traverses Long An, HCM City and Dong Nai. It is expected to reduce traffic congestion between the Mekong Delta and southeastern Vietnam.
The project was originally planned to be finished in 2018, but it was delayed until 2020. Around 70 percent has been completed.
