Slow site clearance causes delays in major traffic projects
By Van Nam - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC - While traffic in HCMC is becoming worse, many major communications projects have been delayed for years due mostly to slow site clearance, according the city’s Department of Transport.
Some of the long-stalled projects include expansion of Road 25B in District 2, and of the intersections of Go Dua, Thu Duc, Nga Tu Ga and Tan Thoi Hiep, said Tran Quang Phuong, director of the department. 
Phuong said in a statement recently sent to the city government that long delays mainly resulted from lack of enthusiasm about site clearance on the part of district authorities.
Lack of enforceable regulations governing site clearance is also to blame, he said.
He said expansion work on Go Dua intersection in Thu Duc District started in February 2008, but the district authorities had cleared only 87% of the land needed because there remained 67 affected families declining to relocate.
“The delay has been causing a very bad traffic congestion at Go Dua intersection, which has in turn left a negative impact on local people’s lives,” said Phuong.
Work on the other intersections is also slow because land clearance is around 60% complete, so traffic jams at these intersections are worsening day after day.
Another case in point is Road 25B, a vital link between Cat Lai Port and Hanoi Highway in District 2.
Only 40% of 174 hectares of land needed for widening this 3-km road is ready, affecting the progress of the project, while worsening traffic congestion is actually a nightmare for local residents and truck drivers traveling to and from the port.
Cat Lai Port in District 2 plays an important role in goods transportation since it contributes 65% of the city’s total containerized goods import and export throughput and accounts for 40% of the handling capacity of the seaports nationwide.
Phuong petitioned the city government to ask the districts and related agencies to quicken site clearance to get the important projects moving again.
As for site clearance in Road 25B project, vice chairman of the city Nguyen Thanh Tai on Tuesday told District 2, where the road is located, and agencies to promptly move 141 families out of the project site by the end of this April.