The Hanoi People’s Committee is urging departments and districts to focus on accelerating public investment, seen as a key task to boost for socio-economic recovery.

Le Van Luong underpass is scheduled for completion in October. Photo: Pham Cong

At the end of June, Hanoi disbursed only 21.2% of the annual allocation. A report from the local authorities attributed the unexpectedly low rate to a range of issues, including notable difficulties in the site clearance process.

According to the authorities, many projects are facing delays due to the complicated process to identify the origin of the lands and the subsequent land valuation process, while in some cases, the locals do not agree with the compensation packages.

Meanwhile, persisting issues have not been fully addressed, including the ineffective cooperation among Government agencies and cumbersome administrative procedures.

The Covid-19 pandemic impacts and rising prices of construction materials have also contributed to the issue, noted the report.

To ensure the realization of the public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Le Hong Son called for greater responsibilities from related parties in public investment projects, asking for each agency to submit a disbursement plan with a clear timeline on monthly – and quarterly basis to the city’s leaders.

“Leaders of units, departments, and localities are responsible for the progress of public projects,” Son said.

The city’s leader also expected agencies to speed up investment procedures, especially in project approval and modification.

In addition, Hanoi has been working with the Ministry of Construction to ensure a sufficient supply of construction materials, along with revising existing regulations on site clearance and supporting affected households in resettlements.

The city’s Vice Chairman asked all departments and units to review the priority order of projects in the 2021-2025 period for the arrangement of funds accordingly.

For the 2021-2025 period, the city sets to earmark VND650 trillion ($28.4 billion) for the public investment plan.

The priority order for investment would be aligned with the vision for the development of the transport sector and socio-economic infrastructure, namely ring road No.2.5, ring road 3, ring-road 3.5, ring road 4; major bridges crossing the rivers (Vinh Tuy bridge Phase 2, Thuong Cat bridge); inter-provincial roads (national road 6, upgrading national road 32, national road 1A, 21B); and urban railway projects.