National Highway 1, from the South of Ben Thuy Bridge to the North of Ha Tinh City bypass, has been seriously degraded. Although the state management agency and the Provincial People's Committee have sent many documents requesting Cienco4 Group and Vinh City bypass BOT Branch to fix and repair the road, they have not met the requirements. Ha Tinh Newspaper reporters had an interview with Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Tran Bau Ha about this issue.

Reporter: Sir, in reality, the restoration of the degraded and damaged state of National Highway 1 from the South of Ben Thuy Bridge to the North of Ha Tinh City bypass is still slow and does not meet requirements. What is your opinion on this situation?

Mr. Tran Bao Ha: The project to upgrade and expand National Highway 1 from the South of Ben Thuy Bridge to the North of Ha Tinh City bypass is 35 km long, with an investment cost of more than 2,400 billion VND, invested by Cienco4 Group Joint Stock Company (Cienco4) under the BOT (build - operate - transfer) form. In early 2014, the project was completed and put into use. However, after a period of operation, the road surface has deteriorated, had to be repaired many times, and is now seriously degraded.

Recently, the Provincial People's Committee has assigned the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee and the Department of Transport to coordinate with the state road management agency and relevant parties to inspect and assess the damage and deterioration. At the same time, it has made requests to fix and repair damaged, rutted, peeling road surfaces, and fix faded and ineffective paint lines... that pose a risk of causing traffic safety problems.

The situation of National Highway 1, from the South of Ben Thuy Bridge to the North of Ha Tinh City bypass, being damaged and degraded has been going on for a long time.

The Provincial People's Committee has issued an official dispatch requesting relevant units to urgently fix the problem in March 2023. The Vietnam Road Administration has also repeatedly directed the Road Management Area II to strengthen inspection and supervision of repairs; in case of slow repair or failure to ensure quality, toll collection will be considered to be temporarily suspended. The Road Management Area II has conducted an inspection and requested Cienco4 Group, the Vinh City Bypass BOT Branch to complete the handling of shortcomings, degradation, and damage to the road surface, ensuring safety for people and vehicles before September 15, 2023.

However, up to this point, the investor has missed the deadline many times; the repair and remediation has not been thorough, and does not ensure the time and quality requirements as committed.

Investors are scraping and resurfacing National Highway 1 through Xuan An town, Nghi Xuan district.

PV: Is the responsibility of the investor and related parties for this issue satisfactory, sir?

Mr. Tran Bao Ha: It can be affirmed that the responsibility of the investor, Cienco4 Group, is not high in overcoming and thoroughly repairing the damage, rutting, potholes, peeling road surface, and the faded and ineffective paint system on this route. Although the Road Management Area II, the Provincial People's Committee, the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee, and the Department of Transport have regularly inspected, urged, and required the investor to implement according to specific time frames, according to reports from state management agencies, the overcoming and repairing of Cienco4 Group and the Vinh City Bypass BOT Branch are still fragmented, small-scale, and do not meet the requirements.

Investors have given many reasons to justify this delay, including difficulties in capital for maintenance and repair. However, the biggest problem is still a lack of responsibility because this is the country's vital route, ensuring smooth traffic for people and vehicles and ensuring traffic safety must be given top priority.

According to reports from state management agencies, the repair and maintenance work of Cienco4 Group and Vinh City Bypass BOT Branch is still fragmented and small-scale, not meeting requirements.

Reporter: What solutions will Ha Tinh continue to have so that Cienco4 and the Vinh City Bypass BOT Branch can carry out repairs and maintenance to meet the requirements of time, quality and efficiency, sir?

Mr. Tran Bao Ha: In the coming time, the Provincial People's Committee will continue to assign the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee and the Department of Transport to coordinate with relevant parties to inspect and evaluate the repair and restoration work of the investor Cienco4 and the Vinh City Bypass BOT Branch for the damage and degradation of National Highway 1 from the South of Ben Thuy Bridge to the North of Ha Tinh City Bypass.

If the repair of National Highway 1 continues to be delayed as it is now, the Provincial People's Committee will send a document to the Ministry of Transport and the Vietnam Road Administration to consider temporarily suspending toll collection.

PV: Thank you very much, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee!

PV