After one year, the project to construction the Can Tho – Ca Mau Expressway only finished the work worth VND3.82 trillion out of 18.8 trillion (US$156.5 million/770 million), accounting for 20.3 percent of the contract value. This is about 6 months behind schedule.
The whole route has nearly been excavated, but only a few parts of the frontage roads could be built. This is because of a lack of sand for the road base. In addition, some sections on the route still do not have the land clearance task or technical infrastructure relocation (particularly the high voltage power lines) completed.
The Prime Minister has already directed many provinces in the Mekong Delta region to prioritize their sand resources for this important project. In particular, both Dong Thap Province and An Giang Province should deliver 7 million cubic meters each (3.3 million cubic meters each in 2023), and the amount Vinh Long Province is in charge of is 5 million cubic meters (2.5 million cubic meters in 2023). Until now, only 16 million cubic meters were sent to the project despite the real need of 18.46 million cubic meters.
The My Thuan Project Management Board informed that the project contractors have been exploiting 16 sand mines in the provinces of Vinh Long, Dong Thap, and An Giang. Even with the material from all of these mines plus the sand taken from the project to regulate the water flow on Vam Nao River (An Giang Province), the maximum sand volume exploited for the expressway project is only 34,000m3/day, which is 55,000-60,000m3/day lower than the real demand.
