The tardiness in implementing the committee's directions in mid-March and early May has resulted in poor capital disbursement.
Chairman Phan Van Mai of the municipal People’s Committee yesterday issued instructions on solutions and tasks to remove bottlenecks, speed up project implementation and disburse public investment capital in 2024.
Specifically, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment was blamed for being slow and not resolving the bottlenecks and recommendations for eight projects. Of the eight, some projects have not yet been disbursed such as the project to expand Vo Van Kiet High School in District 8. As per the plan, over VND73.2 billion should be disbursed for the construction of the Vo Van Kiet High School project.
Plus, the project of compensation and resettlement for the construction project of Thoi An Primary School in District 12 has not yet been carried out while the capital allocated for the project is nearly VND6.5 billion. Only 1 percent of the total planned capital of VND68.2 billion was spent on the project to repair the Hoa Binh Theater in District 10 this year.
The Department of Planning and Investment was criticized for being slow in resolving the bottlenecks of 11 projects. Notably, all 11 projects have not yet been carried out including projects such as renovating the A41 canal (from Tan Son Nhat airport to Cong Hoa road - Tan Binh District) with the capital of VND83 billion and the construction project of a high school in a 38ha resettlement area. The department has not disbursed VND105 billion on a project in District 12.
The Department of Education and Training has one project that is slow in resolving difficulties and bottlenecks. It is the project to build Tan Phu Trung 2 Secondary School.
The people's committees of districts 3, 5, 8, Binh Thanh and Thu Duc City received the Chairman’s criticism. For instance, Thu Duc City is sluggish to resolve four projects, while other localities have from 1-2 projects.
The HCMC People's Committee has sent its recommendations twice but relevant localities and agencies have not resolved them definitively. This time, the Chairman has requested them to urgently resolve all outstanding difficulties before June 20; no further delays are allowed.
Chairman Phan Van Mai also requested departments and localities to thoroughly resolve any difficulties and obstacles that have been previously directed before June 20 - the deadline. Specifically, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment will focus on accelerating the procedures for 75 projects related to compensation, site clearance and environmental procedures.
The Department of Planning and Investment will resolve procedures for 41 projects related to planning adjustments. The Department of Transport will resolve 16 proposals, the Department of Finance will resolve 15 proposals and local administrations should focus on resolving 92 proposals under their authority.
Regarding projects that have encountered difficulties and obstacles that have been identified and assessed by investors as unable to disburse capital in 2024 according to the committed plan, after efforts to accelerate the implementation of related procedures, the Chairman assigned the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Planning and Investment to supervise and determine the responsibility of organizations and individuals involved leading to delays.
At the same time, he assigned the Department of Planning and Investment to propose alternative solutions and timely transfer capital between projects in order to promote the disbursement of public investment capital of Ho Chi Minh City.
For carryover projects, the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee requires responsible departments and agencies to ensure the disbursement rate that has been directed. Specifically, disbursement in the second quarter must reach 30 percent or more while disbursement in the third quarter and the fourth quarter must top 70 percent and 95 percent respectively; especially for projects assigned a capital plan of more than VND50 billion.
The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also gave specific instructions on the settlement of projects and flexible management of the Public Investment Plan in 2024, plus adjusted capital within the investors every month. At the same time, departments, district people's committees, and the authority in Thu Duc City were requested to shorten 30 percent of the time for resolving procedures for public investment projects. There will be punishment on departments and agencies that are sluggish in carrying out projects.
