HCMC – Dong Nai Province has so far handed over a mere 6.2% of 65 hectares of land required for the construction of a Beltway No. 3 section passing through the southern province.
According to the Planning and Investment Department of the Ministry of Transport, among the four localities which Beltway No. 3 passes through, Dong Nai is the worst performer in terms of site clearance. In contrast, the other three – Binh Duong, HCMC and Long An – have cleared 82%, 97%, and 98% of the land required for the project, respectively.
Deputy Minister of Transport Le Tuan Anh expressed concern over Dong Nai’s slow progress, even though the province has approved compensation plans for over 500 out of 800 affected households and is set to make the initial compensation payments soon.
Unless the province accelerates site clearance, construction work could not commence during the dry season, which is considered favorable for project implementation, Anh noted.
Nguyen Thi Hoang, vice chairwoman of Dong Nai Province, attributed the land handover delays to the time-consuming land price determination and approval processes. There remain more than 100 cases in which the origin of land must be determined in the second phase, she added.
The province, she said, is making effort to complete all necessary procedures this month to catch up with the other three localities and ensure the Beltway No. 3 project stays on schedule.
Beltway No. 3 has a total length of 76 kilometers and passes through HCMC, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Long An. About VND75.4 trillion will be needed for the first phase of the road.
The beltway is expected to create an industrial and urban corridor not only for the four localities along its path but also for the entire key southern economic region.
As per the original plan, the entire route is expected to be completed by 2025 and opened to traffic in 2026.
