National Highway 51 through Bien Hoa City has been severely damaged for a long time and has not been repaired. Photo: Minh Thanh, Dong Nai Newspaper.

The Ministry of Transport (MOT) has just sent an official dispatch requesting the Vietnam Road Administration, Vietnam Expressway Administration, Project Management Board 7, and Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Development Joint Stock Company (BVEC) to handle problems at the BOT project to expand National Highway 51, section Km0+900 - Km73+600.

It is known that recently, the leaders of this ministry have issued many documents requesting the Vietnam Road Administration to urgently resolve the existing problems of the BOT project to expand National Highway 51, section Km0+900 - Km73+600, and officially determine the end date of toll collection.

However, since the toll collection was stopped, it has been more than 1 year and 8 months, but the Vietnam Road Administration has been very slow in implementing the project and has not yet had any results in resolving the project's problems.

According to the reflection of the People's Committee of Dong Nai province and the People's Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, the route within the scope of the BOT project to expand National Highway 51, section Km0+900 - Km73+600, after temporarily stopping toll collection, has now appeared many damaged locations, potholes, cracked road surface, lane markings in many sections are missing..., posing a potential risk to traffic safety for vehicles.

To speed up the resolution of the project's shortcomings, the Ministry of Transport requests the Vietnam Road Administration to promptly perform its role, responsibility, and authority in implementing the BOT project to expand National Highway 51, section Km0+900 - Km73+600.

The Vietnam Road Administration must fully perform the functions and tasks assigned by the Ministry of Transport, promptly work and negotiate with BVEC to resolve the requests of BVEC, Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial People's Committee and sponsoring banks, promptly find solutions to completely resolve the project's problems, officially determine the project's toll collection end date and make decisions according to its authority.

The Vietnam Road Administration shall only report to the Ministry of Transport on issues beyond its authority for consideration and resolution or report to competent authorities as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 18 of Circular No. 50/2022/TT-BGTVT dated December 30, 2022 of the Ministry of Transport regulating the performance of functions and tasks of competent authorities, agencies signing and implementing investment project contracts under the PPP method managed by the Ministry of Transport.

Regarding maintenance work during the toll collection suspension period, the Vietnam Road Administration, as the management agency during the operation period, urgently inspects, reviews and works with BVEC to clarify the responsibility for maintenance work, has solutions to maintain the route, and ensures safety during operation according to regulations. The Vietnam Road Administration is fully responsible to the Ministry of Transport for any problems (if any) arising for the Project according to regulations.

The Ministry of Transport assigned the Vietnam Expressway Administration to closely coordinate with the Vietnam Road Administration during the implementation process and advise the Ministry of Transport on project-related contents according to regulations.

Project Management Board 7 closely coordinates with the Vietnam Road Administration and BVEC in implementing the project's shortcomings; urgently reviews the contents related to the project's final settlement and completes the necessary procedures for settlement of the remaining volume (if any) according to regulations.

The Ministry of Transport requires BVEC to be responsible for fully implementing its rights and obligations according to the project contract, closely coordinating with the Vietnam Road Administration and relevant agencies during the settlement process.

According to the contract between the Vietnam Road Administration and BVEC signed in 2009, the total toll collection period for the BOT project to expand National Highway 51 is 20.66 years, of which the toll collection period to recover capital is about 16.66 years (from August 3, 2012 to March 27, 2029); the toll collection period to generate profit is 4 years (from March 28, 2029 to March 28, 2033).

By the end of February 2017, the project's capital recovery fee collection period was adjusted to 20 years, 6 months and 11 days, that is, from July 1, 2009 to January 12, 2030, and 4 years of profit-generating fee collection.

At the end of 2018, due to some changes related to input factors and recommendations from the State Audit, the Vietnam Road Administration recalculated the time to collect tolls to generate profit and reduced the time to generate profit from 4 years to 9 months.

To avoid BVEC from collecting tolls beyond the time limit, on January 9, 2023, the Vietnam Road Administration issued Document No. 137/CVietnam Road Administration to temporarily suspend toll collection at toll stations under the BOT Project to invest in expanding National Highway 51 from 7:00 a.m. on January 13, 2023 while negotiations between the two parties have not yet ended.

After the Project temporarily stopped collecting tolls, the Vietnam Road Administration issued a document terminating the contract ahead of schedule for the Project management and maintenance work and reporting on establishing public ownership, but it was not approved by the Ministry of Finance due to insufficient legal basis as prescribed.

It is known that the main problems of the Project are the 8.7%/year equity preservation fee and the 4-year profit collection period that have not been agreed upon by the parties.

During the recent past, BVEC has continuously sent documents to the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Transport requesting to resolve the project's problems; the People's Committees of Dong Nai province, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province and sponsoring banks have sent documents urging the Ministry of Transport to resolve the issues completely.