30m long with 15 peeling locations

The project to upgrade and expand National Highway 19 has a total length of 143km, passing through Gia Lai 126km and Binh Dinh 17km, and was started in 2021, with Project Management Board 2 (Ministry of Transport) as the investor.

The project has a total investment capital of nearly 3,600 billion VND (of which the World Bank loan is 3,465 billion VND; the Australian Government's non-refundable aid is more than 48.5 billion VND and domestic counterpart capital is 85.5 billion VND).

According to the plan, the project will be completed in 2023, but up to now, many items are still unfinished. Although the asphalt was completed not long ago, the road from house number 91 - 499 Nguyen Hue Street (Dak Doa town) has appeared a series of "potholes".

Notably, the section in front of house number 449 Nguyen Hue, right at the traffic light area, has been peeling off, creating numerous potholes. With only about 30m in length, there are 15 locations with peeling, which not only affects the aesthetics but also poses a potential risk of traffic accidents.

Mr. T. (65 years old, Residential Group 5, Dak Doa town) reported that the road was completed but the construction unit did not proceed with curbing or beveling the curbs, making it difficult for people to enter and exit their houses. In many places, the road surface is about 20cm lower than the drainage ditch, forcing people to build their own curbs to enter, each house has its own style, which is unsightly.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong (Dak Doa town) is worried because every day she has to wake up early to ride her motorbike to transport vegetables to Pleiku city to sell. Although she is very familiar with the road, she still occasionally hits potholes, causing both her and her motorbike to lose control. It is only about 2km but she feels very insecure every time she rides this road.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Luong Van Con, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Dak Doa town, confirmed that there are many "potholes" appearing on National Highway 19 through the area. At first, they were just small holes, thought to be drilled by the investor for acceptance, then due to the heavy traffic, they were broken into "potholes"...

“This road has just been built, and we don’t know if it has been handed over, finalized and put into use yet, or if there is still time for maintenance and repair. People have many opinions about why the road has been damaged even though it was just built,” said Mr. Con.

Will be fixed as soon as possible

On July 25, Dak Doa District People's Committee sent a document to Project Management Board 2 (Ministry of Transport) directing to speed up the repair of local damage at locations on National Highway 19 passing through the district.

Accordingly, after a period of prolonged heavy rain, the asphalt concrete road through Dak Doa district has some locally damaged locations, causing traffic insecurity. To ensure safety during use, avoid incidents and accidents with unfortunate consequences, the District People's Committee requested the investor to direct the construction unit to urgently fix and repair the damaged road surface to ensure traffic safety...

Dak Doa District People's Committee believes that if not repaired promptly, the damaged road surface will spread further, affecting traffic safety, construction quality and road surface aesthetics.

Speaking to VietNamNet, Mr. Le Tuan Manh, Director of the Central Highlands Traffic Connectivity Enhancement Project Management Board (Project Management Board 2, Ministry of Transport) said that he was aware of the phenomenon of peeling and creating "potholes" in the section passing through Dak Doa town. However, due to the heavy rain, the units are trying to fix it but not thoroughly, waiting for the rain to stop to fix it.

According to Mr. Manh, the road section through Dak Doa town is being constructed by Vina Delta Company, Thang Long Gia Lai Company is the supplier of asphalt materials, and the project has not yet been handed over.

Mr. Nguyen Van Vien, Deputy Director of Thang Long Company's Gia Lai Branch (the unit that Vina Delta contractor signed a contract to implement the asphalt pavement project) acknowledged that during the asphalt pavement construction process, the investor as well as the parties supervised very closely. However, due to the weather and prolonged rain, some localized damage occurred. When the weather is dry and sunny, the company will fix it immediately.