Identifying "bottlenecks"
Public investment is a work involving many industries and stages, of which the most relevant is the stage of land price determination. This is the stage that causes many "congestions" for the next stages of the project, especially projects related to site clearance. Typically, the project of upgrading and expanding DT.746 road (section from Tan Thanh junction to Hoi Nghia junction); constructing Bach Dang Bridge 2 (Project 2 of building a bridge over Dong Nai river), etc. encountered problems in site clearance, leading to behind schedule.
Commencement of upgrading and expanding the DT746 road
According to the leader of the Provincial Traffic Works Construction Investment Project Management Board, in 2022, the total capital allocated by the Board is 1,837 billion VND, of which more than 70% of the capital is allocated for site clearance. As of January 31, 2023, the undisbursed ground clearance capital was 1,184 billion VND, accounting for 64.4%. The reason is that the compensation plans have not been approved according to the expected plan.
As reported by the Provincial People's Committee (PPC), by December 08, 2022, the disbursement rate for the 2022 public investment capital plan, including the extended 2021 plan, was only 38.7%. Therefore, the PPC immediately implemented the campaign "Promoting disbursement of public investment capital" (from December 08, 2022 to January 31, 2023).
After 50 days of campaign implementation, by January 31, 2023, the province's disbursement rate for public investment in 2022 has reached 74.4% and the disbursement rate for key projects is 66.3%.
The construction unit accelerates the construction progress of the Bac Tan Uyen - Phu Giao - Bau Bang road
The implementation results of peak campaign "Promoting disbursement of public investment capital" in 2022 showed how important it is to properly identify and remove the "bottleneck" of land prices for projects related to site clearance.
Besides, some projects are behind schedule due to the complicated nature of some specialized equipment procurement packages, so bidding cannot be held; or when organizing the bidding, they cannot find a contractor to meet the requirements, which are also significant difficulties and problems, such as the 1,500-bed General Hospital Equipment bidding package.
The 1,500-bed General Hospital
According to Mr. Nguyen Vinh Toan - Director of the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board, the reason for the low disbursement rate of projects invested by the Board is that a number of large projects have not been implemented yet. Specifically, the 1,500-bed General Hospital equipment project has not been implemented with an investment of more than 379 billion VND and the Central park and overall technical infrastructure of the War Zone D memorial site with an investment capital of 62.5 billion VND, only 22.2% disbursed.
In addition, according to the opinions of departments, committees and branches, the low disbursement rate of key projects is also due to problems such as: Authority to adjust capital plans; separating the site clearance project into an independent project; policy on land acquisition, compensation and support for resettlement; the coordination of relocation of technical infrastructure works, etc. The project survey and design is not good, leading to a number of projects that cannot be disbursed when they are implemented due to problems with planning and location, and having to adjust unit prices and adjust projects. Risk assessment and management during project implementation have not been paid due attention by investors.
In 2021, the Covid-19 outbreak and its serious impacts on many fields is also the reason why the province's undisbursed capital is quite large.
"Opening up" solution
Drawing experience from the campaign "Promoting disbursement of public investment capital" in 2022, Mr. Trinh Hoang Tuan Anh - Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment shared, the reason the Campaign achieved results is because a number of tasks and solutions were first deployed by agencies and units. Specifically, the publication of daily disbursement data of investors helped investors make timely adjustments in processing progress. In addition, the integration of work steps has accelerated the preparation, appraisal and approval of the compensation plan. Or the fact that the Land Fund Development Center updated the draft compensation plan to list publicly as soon as the Price Appraisal Council agreed on the unit price without waiting for the PPC to approve the unit price as before, which helped the units to shorten the waiting time to apply the price for the projects.
In order for the disbursement in 2023 to reach the target of 25% per quarter, according to Mr. Trinh Hoang Tuan Anh, the investment and project preparation must be done early in order to promptly adjust if any problems arise during the implementation process. Not putting it into the last months of the year, avoiding falling into a passive situation when adjusting, not disbursing capital plans in time.
In addition, it is necessary to review and identify projects that are eligible for capital allocation to be able to transfer capital plans from projects that cannot be disbursed according to the schedule during the year. At the same time, it is necessary to study a mechanism to allow the transfer of capital in case of necessity for some projects that have not been implemented immediately.
At the recent meeting of discussing solutions to speed up public investment in 2023, the PPC Chairman Vo Minh Minh said that the PPC will soon issue a Directive related to public investment based on the assessment of public investment capital disbursement results in 2022. In which, the units need to urge and strengthen the direction of compensation and clearance; focus on key projects in 2023 such as Ring Road No. 3, Ring Road No. 4, Thu Bien - Dat Cuoc road. Project Management Boards and relevant departments and branches need to focus on pre-feasibility investment preparation for projects such as Ring Road No. 4 and Ho Chi Minh Road passing through Binh Duong province. Besides, well preparing for the commencement of projects such as building underpasses at Phuoc Kien 5-way intersection, Song Than station intersection, etc.
In particular, the Land Price Appraisal Council needs to complete the land price appraisal to remove difficulties in the land price bracket. Localities need to establish working groups so that projects can be implemented on schedule.
The directive also requires investors to actively develop implementation plans and disbursement schedule for each project, including explanation and risk assessment during the implementation of each project; make periodic or ad-hoc performance reports as required; have a follow-up plan to achieve the set targets. For key projects at district level, steering groups are also set up so that the projects can be implemented on schedule.
Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Loi inspects the Ring Road No. 3 project progress in the early days of the New Year 2023
In addition, the PPC Chairman Vo Van Minh proposed the Provincial People's Council to support the PPC in monitoring the progress of key projects. For national target works, he requested the units to urgently implement and complete well. Early deploying capital allocation, in which priority is given to allocating capital for resettlement. For projects that are expected to start new construction in 2023, the agencies, units and investors should urgently complete the necessary procedures for early implementation, not to focus on the end of the year; limit the risks that lead to the failure to disburse capital as planned.
"Public investment plays a huge role in the development of the country. Binh Duong's good implementation of public investment disbursement not only ensures the economic development, social security, and political stability of the locality, but also makes an important contribution to the defense and maintenance of the independence and sovereignty of the Fatherland. Therefore, identifying and overcoming obstacles in the disbursement of public investment capital in 2022 will be an important premise for the effective public investment capital plan in 2023" – The PPC Chairman Vo Van Minh emphasized.
Reported by Thao Lam- Translated by Thanh Tam