HCMC determinedly handles corruption, negativity in public investment management

Construction of the underground tunnel at Nguyen Huu Tho – Nguyen Van Linh Intersection in District 7. (Photo: SGGP)

The municipal People’s Committee assigns the HCMC Department of Planning and Investment as an advisor in developing measures:

_to allocate all the capital given by the Prime Minister and HCMC People’s Council;

_to adjust and transfer capital among projects being done this year;

_to prepare an investment plan for next year;

_to devise a logical procedure for forming, assessing, and approving public investment plans;

_to develop a resolution for HCMC People’s Council on allowing the People’s Committee to decide, adjust investment policies for group-C projects using local budget.

This Department is also asked to handle the procedure of assessing national-scaled projects and monitoring, evaluating investment performance of any agencies, units that fail to submit necessary reports. Particularly, failure to submit necessary reports in two consecutive terms or any three terms results in reprimand; in three consecutive terms or any four terms earns a warning. Any violation on report submission regulation means related public investment projects can only receive allocated budget after the issue is handled.

HCMC People’s Committee assigns the municipal Finance Department to periodically report disbursement results of investments managed by the city, to check public investment settlement and timely report any possible problems, along with corresponding solutions.

Before the fifth day of each month, the State Treasury – HCMC Branch must report the status of public investment disbursement. It has to cooperate with relevant state agencies to urge investors and contractors to complete dossiers for disbursement request and refund of advance payment, settlement of finished projects to submit the remaining amount to the state budget.

The HCMC Department of Home Affairs should not nominate any agencies, units assigned as a project investor but do not maintain the registered progress. Public investment disbursement results in 2023 are one factor to evaluate this year’s level of task completion of organizations, leaders of state departments and agencies, local authorities. A rating of below 90 percent due to subjective reasons means failure of an organization leader or project investor to complete his or her task.

The HCMC Department of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible for commenting on land compensation compared to the market prices in order to ensure the feasibility and to avoid resistance of relevant people after project approval or must-have adjustments on total investment.

The People’s Committees of all localities are requested to regularly monitor their member units in cooperating with investors to ensure the progress of land clearance (land compensation, resettlement support, report to HCMC People’s Committee any issues beyond power, collaboration mobilization from related residents to speed up the progress and avoid complaints). These local leaders must actively evaluate the resettlement demands of people affected by projects until 2030 to propose to HCMC People’s Committee the number of needed land lots, apartments.

The investors of any projects encountering problems in land clearance should suggest feasible solutions, including project halting or scale reduction to eliminate capital unuse or project deadline extension. As to expired projects, investors must urgently complete necessary procedures to ask competent authorities for deadline extension in compliance with the law.

HCMC People’s Committee asks project investors to finish investment procedures no later than the second quarter this year and to take responsibility for additional registration in the 2023 public investment plan for projects approved by HCMC People’s Council in the medium-term public investment plan in the 2021-2025 period.

State departments, agencies, and the People’s Committees of all districts, Thu Duc City are in charge of project progress and quality. In particular, the time to process documents for project assessment and approval, contractor selection, construction design development, cost estimation, and settlement approval for projects having received capital must be reduced by at least 30 percent.

Simultaneously, the progress of all projects must be closely monitored to promptly urge investors to address arisen problems. There must be sanctions to strictly punish any investors, project management boards, organizations, and individuals that deliberately slow down the progress of public investment disbursement and distribution.

Finally, any civil servants, public employees that have low capacity, show signs of stagnation or corruption in public investment management must be immediately handled.