On April 8th, 2019, Mr. Ho Minh Hoang, Chairman of Deoca Group and Chairman of BOT Trung Luong - My Thuan directly surveyed the work site and worked with the Board of Directors, investors, contractors, and monitoring consultants of this expressway.
Chairman Ho Minh Hoang works with contractors, supervision consultants on executive fleet vehicle
When drastically inspecting the site of Trung Luong - My Thuan Expressway Project (Tien Giang), and frankly acknowledging many long-standing problems of the Project, Mr. Ho Minh Hoang requested for a concrete report as well as proposals for solving the problems in a quick manner.
Mr. Ho Minh Hoang said that the management of the Project was still inadequate and had to be adjusted immediately. Specifically, the construction reporting has not been prepared effectively; the consulting service is cluttered with too many unprofessional consultations, etc..., it is required to correct the management activities, restructuring the supervision consultancy to ensure transparency and effectiveness so as not to cause trouble to the Contractors. Mr. Ho Minh Hoang frankly pointed out the unsecured work, which has affected the quality of the project.
In terms of the financial difficulties shared by the Contractors, Mr. Ho Minh Hoang proposed a solution to re-evaluate the Contractor's capacity, thereby using the existing capital of Deoca Group and the credit line to work with suppliers of materials, equipment and facilities for construction... as a fundamental supply for the contractors based on approval of the Executive Board on the detailed construction schedule of each item, each bidding package and seek agreement from the contractors to commit (including raising contractors' short-term credit capital for construction before bank loan is disbursed) to the investor to ensure the implementation of the project as scheduled.
Mr. Ho Minh Hoang exchanged with contractors, supervision consultants that: "We have to create the right products, the contractors must not only "show". The investor will support the qualified contractors to continue the construction of the project, but will also control the cash flow into the project through materials provision and specific commitments on progress by stabilizing prices to avoid price fluctuations and ensure the gathering of materials and ensure with the Bank on the control of cash flow to be used for the Project although legal procedures have been greatly entangled after the Government Standing Committee issue new policy, and specific requirements of the Investor have not been specifically solved by Tien Giang province. In addition, Tien Giang province is clarifying the legality of opinion concluded by the Government Standing Committee's on assigning this province as the Competent State Agency which is a massive issue of the Project.
Chairman Ho Minh Hoang inspected the work site of Trung Luong - My Thuan Expressway project
The Investor is concerned about the ability to organize implementation of the local Government's direction, because if legal procedures have not been specifically addressed, the investment for the Contractor and the Project will still be delayed for a long time. The commitment to complete the project and put into traffic in 2020 will not only be the responsibility of the investor, but also the responsibility of the stakeholders such as localities, banks ... The aspiration of people in the Mekong Delta has been directed by the Government; however, the responsibility of localities on ability to organize the implementation of its commitments is still not actually concerned.
Mr. Phan Anh Dung, Director of Tuan Loc Construction Investment Corporation said that “After Deoca Group participates in operating the project, long standing problems of the project are basically solved. The current difficulty of the project is the capital which has also initially been resolved due to the initiative of the investor”.
Mr. Hoang Van Lam, Managing Director of the consultant coordination center of Transport Engineering Design Inc. (Tedi) admitted that: “So far, there are too many supervising consultants; therefore the coordination and homogenization have encountered certain difficulties. The functions and tasks of the consultant coordination center are not clear, the regulations on coordination and direction are ineffective, the forms and other document are inconsistent leading to difficulty in the control".
Therefrom, the Managing Director of the consultant coordination center of the Project expressed his delight: “The supervision consultants in offices put the confidence in the management of Deoca Group. With practical and specific solutions of the Chairman of the Board of Directors has opened up a great opportunity for the construction contractors to complete the project on schedule. The request of the Chairman of the Board of Directors on the reorganization of the supervision consultancy system will surely make this activity more scientific and effective”.
The Trung Luong - My Thuan Expressway project is 51.1Km long, beginning at the intersection of Than Cuu Nghia (following the Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong highway), and ending at the intersection of National Road 30 at An Thai Trung intersection. The implementation of project was started on February 7th, 2015 by the consortium of investors including Tuan Loc - Yen Khanh - BMT - Thang Loi - Hoang An - CII Bridge and Road Investment Joint Stock Company; representative of Competent State Agency: Cuu Long Corporation for Investment Development and Project Management of Infrastructure (CIPM).
Several problems such as Yen Khanh Group Joint Stock Company is involved in criminal cases and is now under investigation of the police agency of Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of National Defense Investigation Bureau; condition for cappital disbursement is unreasonable; the inputs of the financial plan are not guaranteed; the loan interest rate is low, the total investment is not sufficient, have brought the project to the deadlock.
After Deoca Group strengthens senior personnel to manage and operate the project, BOT Trung Luong - My Thuan Company has reviewed the Project and proposed solutions to the Government and the Ministry of Transport to resolve the obstacles and difficulties. Currently, the Company's proposals have been basically agreed by the Government and ministries and branches through instruments such as Notice No. 64/TB-VPCP dated February 18th, 2019 of the Government Office announcing the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung...
Particularly, the Government Standing Committee held a meeting on February 20th, 2019 and concluded the resolutions for problems of the project in Notice No. 99/TB - VPCP dated March 18th, 2019. In which, the Government directs that: it is required to continue to invest in the project in the form of BOT contract using support from the state budget, and attempt to complete project and open into traffic by 2020 to meet the demand of inter-regional transportation, serving the socio-economic development of the Mekong Delta region, reducing the burden on the people in the project area.
Q.T
