National Assembly deputies yesterday expressed their concerns over corruption and mismanagement that badly impacted the country's development, especially in managing official development assistance (ODA) loans.

Workers at the 300MW Dai Ninh hydro power plant located in Binh Thuan and Lam Dong provinces. The plant is being built with US$445mil official development assistance (ODA).

Le Van Cuong, from the central province of Thanh Hoa, said management of ODA was still not very clear, causing corruption and waste.

He said that State management should be separated from management of production and business, a problem that was reason behind such big corruption cases as Project Management Unit 18.

Tao Huu Phung from the northern province of Ha Tay said he did not agree with Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc who said "violation is the responsibility of the whole Government."

Phung said this was the individual responsibility of Government members who are in charge of managing ODA.

He said the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) did not pay enough attention to examining, supervising and valuing the quality of projects, and that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) did not strictly supervise the spending and disbursement of ODA.

Speaking about financial management of ODA, Nguyen Ngoc Tran from the southern province of An Giang, said the MPI should be held primarily responsible, while the MoF should also be held responsible after the MPI. Tran asked the Minister of Finance to explain his management, as well as his ministry's financial plan to meet the socio-economic development targets of the next five years.

Some delegates also highlighted concerns on investment in socio-economic development for extremely poor and mountainous areas.

Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said that during the last five years (2001-05), total social investment accounted for 37.5% of GDP, accounting for 130% of the plan, and double that of figures from the previous five-year stage.

Total investment from the State budget in 2001-05 was VND274tril (US$17.1bil), of which VND41.7tril was ODA capital, accounting for 22.8% of total social investment.

It is planned that this year, investment from the State budget will be VND81.5tril ($5.3bil) (of which ODA will be VND7.85tril), accounting for 21.7% of total social investment.

So far, there are 51 bilateral and multilateral donors in Vietnam, of which 28 bilateral donors and 23 multilateral donors have regular ODA programmes.

The annual ODA commitment increases year on year, said Phuc, and ODA capital has been used for recovery and development of socio-economic infrastructure.

Phuc said the transport and the posts and telecommunication sectors were given top priority, with ODA capital of US$6.3bil. Thanks to the ODA, many transport projects were upgraded and built, such as National Highway 1A, Hai Van Pass tunnel, the deep-sea port of Cai Lan, as well as My Thuan and Can Tho bridges.

The industry and energy sectors were invested with more than $5.7bil from ODA source to improve, upgrade and develop thermo and hydro-electricity plants.

Agriculture, rural areas and hunger eradication and poverty alleviation were invested with $3.7bil from ODA funds.

Education and training received $1.2bil of ODA while health care received $1.3bil, Phuc said.

Regarding weaknesses and shortcomings in management of capital investment and construction, Minister Phuc said the problems were the result of a low sense of responsibility and poor enforcement of the Government's instructions, resolutions and policies by various agencies at different levels.

In addition, the lack of discipline has led to mistakes in capital construction investment, ranging from writing of project proposals to appraisals and approvals, said Phuc.

The morality of some project managers was degraded, he said. Some of them have tried to find loop holes in mechanisms and policies to bring benefits for themselves. Phuc said that these offenders have caused huge waste to capital investment and their actions have led to corruption.

The quality of many construction projects was very poor, said Phuc, which exposed the weaknesses in monitoring and supervising activities, particularly in road construction and housing projects for re-settlers.

Low construction quality should also be attributable to weak professional skills and low sense of responsibility on the side of consultancy and design agencies as well as of project holders, Phuc said.

Though Government Decree 07.2003/ND-CP stipulated that project holders have to submit final financial reports to relevant authorities for approval at least 12 months after the completion of major national projects, nine months for smaller class B projects and six months for projects in group C, many of the project managers have failed to comply with the decree.

Phuc said many projects whose final financial reports have not been approved have been commissioned. "This creates a loop hole leading to investment waste," concluded Phuc.

Phuc said he admitted that his ministry performance in monitoring and supervising projects using State and ODA funds was weak. The ministry has not taken resolute measures to compel other ministries, sectors and localities to abide by required investment procedures and project registration, he said.

The ministry has also failed to detect, as soon as possible, the shortcomings and weaknesses during the process of investment capital allocation in ministries, sectors and localities to report to the Government for proper handling, Phuc said.

(Source: Viet Nam News)