URGENT PROJECT DISBURSEMENT DUE TO FORCE MAJEURE

Regarding the report on the implementation of the public investment plan in 2023 and the expected Plan for 2024, delegate Thai Thi An Chung - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province gave a speech expressing her opinion on the content of the Government's submission to the National Assembly to allow the extension of the implementation period and disbursement of VND 98,533 billion of the capital plan from the central budget reserve in 2021 that has not been fully disbursed for the Nam Mo River embankment project, section through block 4, block 5, Muong Xen town, Ky Son district (Nghe An province) to 2024.

At the National Assembly forum, the delegate of Nghe An Delegation said: Ky Son is a border and mountainous district of Nghe An province, one of the most difficult districts in the country with the majority of ethnic minorities.

The capital of Ky Son district is Muong Xen town, located along National Highway 7A and both banks of Nam Mo river. Due to the terrain characteristics of mainly high hills, steep slopes, short and narrow riverbeds and streams, floods in the basin are concentrated quickly and strongly, especially when heavy rain occurs in the entire basin and combined with flood discharge from upstream hydropower plants.

“Every year, floods in the Nam Mo River basin have caused heavy losses in human lives and property, landslides, and damage to many sections of National Highway 7A - the vital traffic route connecting the western districts of Nghe An province and connecting with Laos through Nam Can border gate. Therefore, the Nam Mo River embankment construction project through blocks 4 and 5, Muong Xen town is extremely necessary,” emphasized delegate Thai Thi An Chung.

On March 22, 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai agreed to allow the People's Committee of Nghe An province to use 100 billion VND, out of a total of 150 billion VND supported from the central budget reserve in 2021 according to Decision No. 2266/QD-TTg dated to arrange for the Nam Mo River embankment project, section through block 4, block 5, Muong Xen town, Ky Son district (Nghe An province). Thus, the actual time for the project to be allocated capital, complete investment procedures and implement is only about 9 months.

Immediately after that, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee issued a Decision to allocate funds to implement the Project, and submitted it to the Provincial People's Council for approval of the investment policy. Ky Son District People's Committee has implemented steps to implement the investment, bidding to select a consulting unit to prepare a feasibility study report.

However, on the night of October 1 and the morning of October 2, 2022, a terrible flash flood occurred in Ky Son district. In just a moment, part of Ta Ca commune and Muong Xen town was turned into a flat land with mud, soil, and rocks. The tragic images of the village were promptly reported on the mass media.

“The consequences of the flash flood have led to changes in the Nam Mo river basin, so the feasible design plan previously submitted for appraisal by the People's Committee of Ky Son district is no longer suitable for the current situation on both sides of the river where the project is being implemented,” said the delegate of the Nghe An delegation, adding: “If implemented as the old plan, it will be difficult to achieve the goal and will cause a waste of capital.”

Therefore, relevant units must re-survey the current status, re-evaluate the complexity of the flow, the level of danger of flash floods in the context of climate change to come up with new design options.

According to the delegate, this is an objective cause, an unforeseeable force majeure event, so by the end of 2022, the Project has only disbursed 1,465 billion VND (nearly 1.5% of the 2021 central budget reserve capital allocated for the project).

“Up to now, all investment preparation procedures have been completed. If the funding source is extended, the project will certainly be completed in 2024,” affirmed delegate Thai Thi An Chung, and on behalf of voters, thanked and requested the National Assembly to approve the Government's proposal to allow an extension of the implementation period and continue to disburse the remaining capital for this project until 2024.

“In case the implementation period and remaining capital cannot be extended, we earnestly request the National Assembly and the Government to pay attention to studying and considering allocating reserve funds in 2023 so that the project can continue to be implemented and completed, meeting the expectations of voters and local people,” said the delegate of Nghe An Delegation.

Because this is an extremely necessary and urgent project to limit the consequences of natural disasters and floods, it contributes significantly to ensuring the safety of lives and property for households, protecting economic and social infrastructure works in the area; at the same time, the implementation of this project will also contribute to the successful implementation of 3 national target programs in poor mountainous districts like Ky Son.

PROPOSAL TO PILOT SEPARATE COMPENSATION, RESETTLEMENT SUPPORT, AND LOCATION ACCESSION INTO INDEPENDENT PROJECTS

Previously, giving her opinion on the mid-term assessment of the implementation of the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period, delegate Thai Thi An Chung highly agreed with the Government's report and the verification report of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee.

According to delegates, there are three outstanding results, which are the high consensus and unity from the Central to local levels on investment policies with focus and key points, overcoming the situation of scattered and prolonged investment of the previous period.

During this period, the country has reduced nearly 5,000 new projects, Nghe An alone has reduced the number of projects by nearly 70% compared to the 2016-2020 period; resources are focused on important national projects, urgent projects, investing in essential infrastructure systems, large and important works in a synchronous, connected, spreading direction, creating momentum, promoting economic and social development.

Next is the determination in implementing the plan. Since the beginning of the term, the Government and the Prime Minister have issued many solutions to promote the disbursement of public investment capital. "The National Assembly's supervision delegations and the Government's working groups have been established to remove "bottlenecks" and "bottlenecks", contributing to speeding up the implementation progress and improving the efficiency of using public investment capital", said delegate Thai Thi An Chung.

Along with that, it is necessary to promote innovation, digital transformation, and the application of information technology in planning and disbursement of public investment capital by increasingly perfecting two software systems, namely the National Information System and Database on Public Investment and the Budget and Treasury Management Information System, to ensure public, transparent, and effective planning.

Therefore, the rate of public investment disbursement has changed positively. Many key projects have been completed and put into operation, creating momentum to promote economic and social development.

However, the implementation of the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2021 - 2025 still exists and is limited, and according to the delegate of Nghe An Delegation, the most difficult and slowest to resolve problem is still site clearance.

Therefore, along with the amendment of the land law system, delegate Thai Thi An Chung agreed with delegate Nguyen Thi Le - Ho Chi Minh City Delegation and the National Assembly deputies who spoke that the Government should soon complete the research to submit to the National Assembly for consideration and decision on the pilot separation of compensation, support, resettlement, and site clearance into independent projects to be implemented in some localities.