Risks in construction projects

The Ho Chi Minh City management board of urban infrastructure investment has proposed a plan to upgrade Hy Vong Canal in Tan Binh District, aiming at dealing with flooding at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

According to the proposal put forward to the municipal Department of Construction, the project will affect a section stretching 1,117.5 meters, beginning from Pham Van Bach Street and ending near Tham Luong Canal.

The renovated canal will be 970 meters long, while the parallel drainage embankments on both sides will be 147 meters long.

The whole project will include 55 drainage pits for the retention of rainwater in the basin along both sides of the canal.

Nine new sluices and two roads of about six meters wide each along both sides of the canal will also be built.

The city’s management board of urban infrastructure investment is seeking approval for the allocation of VND1.98 trillion (US$85.6 million) from the municipal budget for the implementation of the project between 2021 and 2025.

Of that, nearly VND1.6 trillion ($69.2 million) will be spent on the site clearance of over 21,209 square meters of land.

The renovation project is expected to help prevent flooding at Tan Son Nhat International Airport and its vicinity.

The upgrade of Hy Vong Canal was previously included in the city’s flood risk management project, which was approved by the municipal People’s Committee in 2016.

It was projected to get funding from the World Bank, but the international lender stopped sponsoring the project in 2017.

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The southern economic hub is mulling an VND8.2 trillion (US$356 million) investment for the renovation of Tham Luong – Ben Can – Rach Nuoc Len Canal to improve flooding situation in the upcoming rainy season.

Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Authority of Ho Chi Minh City has proposed the implementation of the project, which involves infrastructure building and environment quality enhancement for the Tham Luong – Ben Can – Rach Nuoc Len Canal area, a key waterway that connects Ho Chi Minh City to other provinces of southern Vietnam.

The project includes the construction of a concrete dyke of 32.7 kilometer long, dredging of the canal bed, renovation of sewer gates that discharge into the canal, construction of 12 docking areas for boats, as well as construction of roads along the two banks.

The project is expected to improve the outlook of the urban area, plus boosting life quality for over two million people living in an area of 15,000 hectares along the canal.

It will also help mitigate inundation for seven districts of Ho Chi Minh City, including Binh Tan, Tan Phu, Tan Binh, Go Vap, Binh Thanh, Binh Chanh Districts, as well as District 12.

The management authority revealed that a sum of VND6.4 trillion ($277 million) is allocated for the construction, while the remainder will be spent on compensation and other expenses.

The VND8.2 trillion fund will be disbursed over five years from 2021 to 2015, with central budget chipping in VND4 trillion ($174 million), while the rest is covered by the city’s public budget.

In their request to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, the urban infrastructure authority asked to be appointed as the lead investor of the project.

They also urged the municipal People’s Committee and the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee to support the approval for the project from the People’s Council in a meeting in late April.

Tham Luong Canal in Ho Chi Minh City is heavily polluted. Photo: Chau Tuan / Tuoi Tre

The renovation of Tham Luong – Ben Can – Rach Nuoc Len Canal is part of the Ho Chi Minh City Flood Risk Management Project, an initiative benefited from financial backing of the World Bank until 2017 and has faced struggles to find alternative funds since.

The first phase of the project, which includes canal bed dredging and land compensation, was completed.

As witnessed by a correspondent of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday, the section of Tham Luong Canal in District 12 was severely polluted, with water turned black, garbage floating and pungent odor exuding.

The pollution continued as the correspondent went down the canal to Ward 13 of Go Vap District.

According to locals, more garbage will emerge during the rainy season, which serves as the breeding ground for mosquitoes.

“We are counting days to when the canal is dredged, which will help improve the environment and get us better air quality,” said Bui Kim Cuong, a 53-year-old resident of Ward 13 in Go Vap District.

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(Illustrative photo)

Brain drain

Saigon Investment

Surrounding the airport, the biggest in Vietnam and located in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh District, are three canals meant to drain rainwater during the April to November wet season in southern Vietnam.

Called Hy Vong, A41 and Nhat Ban, the three canals have been seriously congested with garbage over the years.

However, upgrade projects have been delayed for years, threatening aircraft safety with the frequent flooding of runways and taxiways.

Hy Vong Canal serves the entire western and northern sections of the airport and a nearby residential area covering 51 hectares (126 acres). From here, drained water typically runs to Tham Luong – Ben Cat Canal and then the Saigon River.

Hy Vong Canal in Tan Binh District is filled up with garbage, March 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

In 2013, a plan was approved to upgrade Hy Vong Canal. Back then, it formed part of a master plan called HCMC Regional Flood Risk Management invested by the local Urban Flood Control Steering Center using World Bank (WB) loans.

Yet the WB stopped providing loans in 2017 and the canal upgrade has been put on hold ever since, awaiting new sources of funding. Later, the project was handed over to Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Projects Management Unit under the municipal Transport Department.

Earlier this week, the unit stated in a report to the department that work to upgrade Hy Vong would cost VND1.98 trillion ($85.6 million) , almost four times the amount estimated last year, with completion delayed by three years to 2025.

The additional investment is due to the higher cost of site clearance and compensating affected households. That sum was originally estimated at more than VND287 billion, with recent calculations raising the sum to over VND1.595 trillion to clear a total area of 21,200 square meters.

The project would upgrade a section of more than 1.1 kilometers along Hy Vong Canal, establish 55 drains to collect water, and build nine sluices and culverts. Along the two banks, the project would erect two six-meter wide roads with sidewalks and drainage systems aside from lighting and railings.

Once completed, the renovation work is expected to not just increase drainage capacity but also contribute to ensuring airport safety and improving environmental protection. The two roads built along the canal would also help people travel more conveniently and increase the value of land in the area.

On the southern side of the airport, around half of its aprons and the entire area A41 Factory managed by the military drain water via A41, currently facing the same plight as Hy Vong.

HCMC had already approved a project to upgrade A41 years ago. As planned, it would cost VND560 billion in total in two stages from 2016-2018 and 2017-2019 and comprise an upgrade of a two-kilometer section of the canal, build a sewer system and roads alongside both two banks.

The A41 Canal in March, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Minh.

With Tan Son Nhat airport expanded to have one more terminal by 2023, the role of the A41 canal is even more crucial.

However, obstacles in the process of site clearance have caused the project to be delayed.

For now, as investor, the Tan Binh District administration, said it is “pushing progress” to complete site clearance as soon as possible so work could start later this year for completion within the next.

Nhat Ban Canal comprises two branches to prevent flooding along the airport’s eastern edge, draining water toward the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal.

In 2016, one of its branches was upgraded at the cost of around VND100 billion, saving part of the parking lot, a runway and a nearby residential area from flooding.

A plane moves along a flooded runway in Tan Son Nhat airport in 2015. Photo by VnExpress/Duy Tran.

Tan Son Nhat is a frequent victim of flooding. In 2015, heavy rains flooded several parts of the airport, with water rising to as high as 20 centimeters, threatening to compromise the airport’s power generators, and prompting employees to barricade the area with sand bags.

The airport served 38.4 million passengers in 2018 and 40.6 million in 2019 compared to its designed capacity of 28 million per year. Due to Covid-19, the figure dropped to 22 million last year.

Dozens of wind power projects in Huong Hoa district in Quang Tri province, for example, are being executed in a hurry to be able to enjoy the preferential FIT (feed in tariff) of VND2,000 per kwh.

Huong Hoa has become the main wind power site of the province. There are 22 communes and towns in the district, and half of the communes have wind power investors.

Under Decision 39/2018, the tariffs are VND1,927 per kwh, or 8.5 cents for onshore, and VND2,223, or 9.8 cents, for offshore projects.

The current FIT applied to wind power stipulated in Decision 39 will expire on November 1, 2021.

Meanwhile, a report of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) released at a recent working session with Quang Tri People’s Committee showed that the power plants, once operational, may not be able to sell their electricity output.

The total capacity of electricity sources in Quang Tri province which received approval from the Government is 4,724 MW.

In addition, another 12,000 MW of potential capacity is being considered in the eighth national power development plan.

While more and more wind power projects are being developed, the existing transmission system has not been upgraded, which had led to risks.

In an effort to use up wind power capacity, the Lao Bao 220 KV transformer station and the Lao Bao – Dong Ha 220 KV transmission line projects have been adjusted to scale.

However, the transmission capacity of these works is still limited, which doesn’t allow the use of all the potential electricity output of the plants in the western part of Quang Tri province (in Da Krong and Huong Hoa districts).

The total additional capacity of renewable power sources in this part has reached 1,400 MW, exceeding the capability of EVN’s existing transmission works and works under implementation.

EVN estimates that because of overloading in the inner-region 200KV/110KV network and the overloading of the 500 KV transmission line section, no more than 309MW out of 1,440 MW, or 21 percent of renewable power output, will be used this year.

The figures will be 404 MW/1,440 MW (28 percent) by 2023, and 763 MW/1,440 MW (53 percent)

In order to use up the capacity of the approved projects and develop more renewable power projects, especially in the western part of the province, EVN has asked Ministry of Investment and Trade (MOIT) and the Government to develop new transmission works, including the 500 KV Lao Bao, the 500 KV Lao Bao – Quang Tri 2, 220 KV Lao Bao – TBA 500 KV Lao Bao and Huong Linh 220 KV transformer station. Fast licensing, slow site clearance

In order to use up the capacity of the approved projects and develop more renewable power projects, especially in the western part of the province, EVN has asked Ministry of Investment and Trade (MOIT) and the Government to develop new transmission works, including the 500 KV Lao Bao, the 500 KV Lao Bao – Quang Tri 2, 220 KV Lao Bao – TBA 500 KV Lao Bao and Huong Linh 220 KV transformer station.

Investors have expressed concern over slow site clearance for transmission line project implementation.

Following MOIT’s approval of power projects, the Quang Tri provincial authorities quickly granted licenses to the projects. However, the site clearance process hasn’t gone so quickly.

At a working session with EVN leaders in late 2020, Vo Van Hung, chair of Quang Tri province, instructed local departments, agencies and district people’s committee to support EVN’s units in site clearance so as to hand over sites to the executor of the 500 KV Quang Trach – Doc Soi and 220 KV Dong Ha – Lao Bao Lines (47.5 kilometer long) prior to December 30, 2020.

However, the projects are still facing problems in site clearance, which has slowed project implementation.

An investor told VietNamNet that he was impatient about the execution of the transmission line project. It has taken several years to get approval for his project, to prepare land, and build the plant. Now, he doesn’t know what will happen when construction of the plant ends, because the transmission line may still be under implementation.

An EVN leader said at a meeting with Quang Tri’s chair in November 2020, EVN committed to complete the 220 KV Lao Bao – Dong Ha and 220 KV Lao Bao transmission works six months after the end of site clearance. However, the site clearance process is yet to finish.

“We hope that local authorities will hand over the site in March so that we can implement the transmission line projects,” he said.

Luong Bang

When investing in the construction of this route, local authorities expected that it could reduce the number of personal vehicles and traffic congestion in the city thanks to its advantages of large transport capacity and fast speed. However, after five years of operation, these targets have not been achieved.

The priority lane for BRT is occupied by private vehicles

Every day, during rush hour (7:30am to 8:30am), the roads of Le Van Luong and To Huu Street are congested because huge numbers of vehicles flow to these center-forward roads. Without the presence of traffic police officers or functional forces, the priority lanes for BRT on these roads are occupied by private vehicles and the rapid transit buses are unable to run at designed speed.

Mr. Le Ngoc Minh, a resident in Ba La, Ha Dong district, said that so far BRT can be seen as a major failure of Hanoi. This is an overall failure from the vision on urban transport planning.

The priority lane for BRT is occupied by private vehicles

“BRT lanes account for 1/3 of the road and go through many intersections, so all the roads with BRT lane are congested. In addition, the fact that some BRT stations do not have flyovers for pedestrians poses a traffic safety risk,” Minh said. High cost for failed tests

The BRT buses are operating like normal ones, but the investment is huge, Lien said. Hanoi had to borrow capital to implement this project. It was a very expensive price for an experiment that has not worked as expected, he added.

Gia Van