There are 300m left unfinished due to land acquisition problems.

On May 21, Giao thong Newspaper reporters were present at the road connecting Lang Giang Bridge to TL161 but it was still messy due to lack of land.

It is known that the Lang Giang bridge project is invested by the Department of Transport of Lao Cai province, with a total investment of 258 billion VND. The bridge connects the two banks of the Red River between Xuan Tang ward and Thai Nien commune (Bao Thang district), provincial road 161 and national road 70.

The contractor for package 6 is Quyet Tien Construction Investment Corporation (construction of Lang Giang bridge has been completed). Currently, the Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board under the Department of Transport of Lao Cai province is completing the procedures for handover and putting into use.

As for the railway approach road and overpass, Package No. 23 is undertaken by the Minh Duc Joint Venture and Lao Cai Inspection. According to the design, the section from Lang Giang Bridge to the railway overpass has a 25m wide roadbed and 15m road surface; the section from behind the railway overpass to the end of the route intersecting with Provincial Road 161 has a 33m wide roadbed and 15m road surface; the railway overpass has a span of 33m long and 19m wide.

The project started on April 25, 2023 and is expected to be completed on December 25, 2023. However, to date, the total value of implementation is about 46/55.6 billion VND (82.7% of the contract value). The volume of construction of the foundation, road surface, drainage system, and auxiliary works at locations from Km 0+457.5 - Km 0+757.6 has not been completed due to slow site clearance.

The slow and unfinished construction of this project is explained by many reasons. Among them, the government and some households have not been able to find a common voice on compensation, site clearance and resettlement.

Mr. Ly Van Minh (residing in Muc village, Thai Nien commune, Bao Thang district, Lao Cai province) said: "After the rains in early May, some houses were heavily flooded, they had to evacuate their belongings. Currently, the households have not moved to clear the land because they have not agreed on compensation costs and resettlement areas. After the flooding caused by the high road pouring water down, Mr. Minh's family had to cover the back of the house with tarpaulin to limit the water from flowing in, but it only reduced it somewhat."

Will enforce if not hand over the site

According to the reporter's investigation, up to now, only 6 households along this connecting road are determined to stay. According to these households, the resettlement area has been formed and is not far from their homes. But the most important problem is that the electricity and water supply system here is not complete. Therefore, if they move there, they will encounter many difficulties.

On the local government side, Mr. Do Ba Hung - Vice Chairman of Bao Thang District People's Committee, Lao Cai Province said: "Currently, there are only a few households that cannot be relocated for the connecting road to be completed. The locality is actively promoting and mobilizing people to understand and share for the common benefit of the district and the province. Striving to hand over the site to the construction unit by the end of June 2024".

On the side of the Land Fund Development Center of Bao Thang district, Lao Cai province, the land, trees and crops for 61/61 households have been counted and counted with a budget of 23.7 billion VND, and 61/61 households have been paid. Currently, the locality has organized a lottery to resettle 17/18 households. 6 households have paid the resettlement money. 5 land use right certificates have been issued to households affected by the project's architecture and crops.

There is also a problem with Ms. Vuong Thi Ut's family, who built a house on agricultural land and were assigned to resettle, but the family said the compensation was not enough to pay for resettlement.

Bao Thang District People's Committee is conducting propaganda and mobilization, and the district has also sent agencies to check the documents. If the documents meet the conditions, they will enforce according to regulations to hand over the site to the construction unit.

Mr. Chu Duc Hai, Director of the Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board under the Lao Cai Provincial Department of Transport, said: "Lang Giang Bridge has been completed, but there is only about 300m of connecting road that cannot be constructed. If the Bao Thang District government completes the land acquisition and handover by the end of June 2024, we will actively speed up the progress to complete this road by August 2024."

Some images recorded by Giao Thong Newspaper reporters on the Lang Giang bridge approach road on May 21: