HCMC – The HCMC-based New Mien Dong Coach Station, which was supposed to begin operations on August 15, has been delayed yet again for multiple reasons, leading to the project falling behind schedule for the fifth time.
The HCMC Transport Department said in a report sent to the HCMC People’s Committee that the new coach station remained ineligible for operation, after the Saigon Transportation Mechanical Corporation (Samco), the project developer, wrote to the municipal government informing it of the delayed opening, reported Thanh Nien newspaper.
After inspecting the project, the Transport Department confirmed that Samco has completed works related to construction, essential facilities and roads linked to the new station as required. However, regarding legal issues, the investor has registered the business location but has yet to finish procedures needed to sign a land lease contract with the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
Besides this, the investor just completed civil and tiling works for the second, third and fourth floors of the project’s passenger terminal but has yet to furnish them. Moreover, the first floor has not had its ceiling tiled.
Samco also cannot link bus operations with the new station as it has not built a bus management platform at the station.
Apart from that, the Transport Department asked Samco to relocate the median strip of the road E3 to widen the road surface and ensure cars can travel onto the internal roads of the station. However, Samco objected to this request, explaining that allowing cars to enter the internal roads would affect public safety.
Due to these reasons, the Transport Department concluded that the new coach station remains unqualified for operations and proposed that the city’s government urge Samco to work with the Natural Resources and Environment to facilitate land lease contract procedures and to complete the additional facilities of the project.
The new coach station, located next to the Hanoi Highway, covers over 16 hectares in District 9 and a part of Di An Township in Binh Duong Province. Work on the country’s largest coach station project started in April 2017.
In the first phase, the project includes a central station, a parking lot, a passenger area, a technical system and a wastewater treatment plant. The central station will have four floors and two basements, with a total area of over 49,000 square meters. It was initially set for completion by the end of 2017.
Then, due to obstacles related to site clearance and legal issues as well as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the project has repeatedly faced delays.
