HCMC – The Railway Project Management Board has been asked to clarify in detail how to solve shortcomings pointed out by the State Audit over the development of the Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway project.
At the meeting on September 26 with the Railway Project Management Board, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Danh Huy said the previous explanations of the management board were unclear, so a further report on each problem mentioned by the State Audit is now required.
The State Audit required the investor to rectify the work of investment, construction, and financial management and consider holding individuals violating regulations to account.
According to the State Audit’s result in December 2018, the project’s total cost adjustment had yet to be reported to the prime minister for submission to the National Assembly before implementation, violating the Law on Public Investment.
The Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line project was carried out under the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract, using China’s concessional loans and the reciprocal capital of Vietnam.
The preliminary cost of the project was estimated at VND8.77 trillion. However, the project faced cost overruns, with the investment cost soaring to VND18 trillion, equivalent to US$868 million.
The total amount of money that needs to be deducted and recovered is VND874 billion, according to the State Audit.
After the conclusion of the State Audit, the Railway Project Management Board has returned VND91 million to the State budget, of which VND50 million came from the Transport Construction and Investment Trading JSC and VND41 million from the Hanoi Land Registration Office.
