VietNamNet - Several major infrastructure works in HCM City are proceeding at a snail's pace and residents are complaining about the persisting traffic and environmental problems as a result, of the delays.

The works include the US$69mil Thu Thiem Bridge; the $5mil Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street Upgrade; the $113mil Phu My Bridge; and the $90mil sanitation project along the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal.

The owner of a shop on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street in Phu Nhuan District - which is being widened from the airport to the downtown area - said: "This street, the gateway to downtown HCM City, was thrown into chaos over two years ago when land acquisition began for the upgrade project. But little has been done and the street in front of our house has ever since been a mess."

Originally, the upgrade was scheduled to begin in 2003 and be completed by 2005. But work did not begin until December 2005 and no one knows now when it will be completed.

So far, only 425 of the 576 people whose land has been appropriated under the right of eminent domain have received compensation.

Meanwhile streets along the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Canal in Tan Binh and District 3 are suffering from chronic traffic jams. Residents blamed this on wells dug on these streets for the sanitation project.

After two and a half years only two of 13 works under the sanitation project are underway. Phan Chau Thuan, deputy director of the HCM City Environmental and Sanitation Project, said the project to build new sewers under the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal by a Chinese joint venture was seven months behind schedule.

The proposed Thu Thiem Bridge, which aims to link Binh Thanh with District 2, ease the overload on Sai Gon Bridge and facilitate transportation between downtown HCM City and districts 2 and 9, remains stuck in a similar rut.

Construction began in April 2005 and was scheduled to be completed in 19 months. But work has not begun in Binh Thanh District because 42 households affected by the project in Ward 22 have refused to move. They are asking for more compensation and land for relocation.

"We will leave soon after we receive [adequate] compensation and apartments," a ward resident, who declined to be named, said.

The Urban Transportation Management Company No.1, which is funding the Thu Thiem Bridge, said it suffered a loss of VND1.5bil ($100,000) for every month of delay.

Financial and technical problems have been blamed for me delay in building the Phu My Bridge which will link districts 2 and 7 and pave the way for the development of districts 2 and 9.

A ground-breaking ceremony was held in September 2005 but work has stalled because the bridge's design has not been approved by the Ministry of Transportation.

The increase in the estimated cost of the bridge - from $92mil to $104mil - and the company's request to operate the toll bridge for a few extra years to recoup the cost was said to be another reason for the delay. The bridge will be built by the Phu My joint stock company on a Build-Operate-Transfer basis.

"We accepted compensation and moved from the area very quickly," said the owner of a house in District 7 who was affected by the project. "But after clearing the land nothing has happened".

Government efforts

Deputy chairman of the HCM City People's Committee, Nguyen Van Dua, said the city had not established a land and housing fund to compensate land-owners affected by public projects. He added the city was trying to find land and houses to relocate such families.

Commenting on residents having to move because of the Thu Thiem Bridge project, he said those with ownership documents had been relocated in Binh Thanh and District 4; those without would be relocated in District 12.

Tran Quang Phuong, director of HCM City's Department of Transportation and Public Works (HTPW) said the delay in dismantling other infrastructure facilities - like power and water networks - at the project sites also affected their progress.

(Source: Viet Nam News)