HCMC – The Hanoi People’s Court today, November 23, opened the first-instance trial against two former deputy general directors of the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) and 34 accomplices for their alleged involvement in the rapid deterioration of the Danang-Quang Ngai Expressway project that caused a loss of over VND811 billion.
The trial lasts about a month, the local media reported.
The two former VEC executives are Nguyen Manh Hung and Le Quang Hao, while the 34 others include Hoang Viet Hung, former director of the project’s management unit, and employees and technicians of the management unit. They were found violating regulations on construction, causing severe consequences.
The court summoned VEC as plaintiff and some 50 people with related interests, including representatives of the Ministry of Transport and the State Appraisal Council. Present at the trial are 61 lawyers who defend the accused.
According to the indictment, the Danang-Quang Ngai Expressway project, whose investor is the State-owned VEC, has a total length of nearly 140 kilometers. In the first phase, a 65-kilometer section from Danang City to Tam Ky City of Quang Nam Province was developed and opened to traffic on August 1, 2017.
Meanwhile, the second phase of the project – 74 kilometers stretching from Tam Ky City to Quang Ngai City – was put into service in September 2018.
However, weeks later, many sections were riddled with potholes, causing traffic safety hazards, according to the indictment.
During the execution of the VND34.5 trillion project, which was of national importance, the investor, contractors, consultants and other relevant units failed to comply with the regulations on construction, leading to the road deteriorating fast.
The indictment concluded that VEC, the management unit of the Danang-Quang Ngai Expressway project and relevant units failed to review and check the quality of building materials.
This, it said, resulted in all seven packages of the first phase of the project using stones originating in some mines which were warned over the quality by the Ministry of Transport.
