The Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway project, spanning over 34km in Dong Nai Province, has been facing significant delays due to problems in land clearance. The project requires the acquisition of approximately 290ha of land from over 3,700 households in Bien Hoa City and Long Thanh District.
As of mid-August 2024, on-site observations at the first component of the project in Long Thanh District revealed ongoing construction activities, including the construction of culverts, earthworks, and bridges.
However, the project contractor, Lizzen Company, reported that progress on packages 21 (from Km6+200 to Km16+600) and package 18 (from Km0+000 to Km6+200) was significantly behind schedule, at only 0.79 percent of the progress, due to insufficient land and earthworks. This has, therefore, wasted a large quantity of human and financial resources.
Despite the provincial authorities’ commitment to complete all land compensation and clearance tasks by June 30, 2024, and the launch of multiple 30-day campaigns to expedite the process, the target has not been met.
As of now, only 41ha out of 215ha have been handed over for the first component in Bien Hoa City and Long Thanh District. The second component passing Long Thanh District is a bit more promising, but still only finishing 85.7ha out of 151ha.
The project investor informed that owing to limited and scattered land that was handed over, it is impossible to move equipment to the working site and ignite construction tasks. Adding to that is tardiness in capital disbursement, which can further slow down progress.
The main trouble of land clearance tasks in Bien Hoa City for this project stems from complex land ownership issues (difficulty in determining land ownership, construction timelines, and asset creation as the land use right of certain plots was transferred informally) in Phuoc Tan Ward of this city.
To address these challenges, the Dong Nai provincial government has requested special mechanisms from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to allow for the excavation of subsoil in non-mining areas. After this excavation, people will resume their use of land according to the approved certificate.
If greenlighted, Dong Nai Province can adopt this mechanism and finish the project in line with the Long Thanh International Airport construction project at the end of 2026.
The provincial government has committed to completing land acquisition for the second component of the project by September 15, 2024, and the remaining portion of the first component by the end of September.
Additionally, efforts are being made to expedite the construction of resettlement areas and the relocation of utilities.
