LookAtVietnam – Minister of Transport Ho Nghia Dung spoke to Lao dong (Labour) newspaper about the need to overhaul the national transport system.

Although Highway 1 has been expanded into an eight-metre-wide asphalt road and some of its portions have been up-graded into a four-lane motorway, it still cannot meet the increasing demand of heavy traffic.

Portions running through Nam Dinh Province in the north, Ho Chi Minh City-Long An Province or Long An-Can Tho in the south are the worse cases.

In recent years, investment in rehabilitating Highway1 has been given top priority, yet it is still far below demand.

In my opinion, one of the causes is piecemeal localised investment while resources remain limited.

Is there any workable plan in the pipeline to solve the problem?

The Government has agreed to focus more budget resources and Government bonds to invest in road construction.

In addition, the Government will call on investors to take projects under BOT (build-operate and transfer), a common policy already used in urban areas.

I hope this investment model will help ease the traffic congestion in towns.

But there is always a problem between planning and implementation as the case of building bridges and approaching roads. They often don’t interlink correctly. What’re your ideas on this problem?

Generally speaking, in bridge and road construction projects the planning phases match. But in the implementation stage, the problems start to occur.

When building a bridge across a river, there is no problem with land clearance so the construction is often good. But for road construction, in order to have it started in the same schedule with the bridge, preparation must begin at least two years earlier due to land clearance problems.

Another reason is that budgets for the bridge and road construction have different sources. So whichever project has received its capital first can start.

Other important reason leading to delays is incompetence on the part of the contractor.

Do you think that the waterway transportation is underdeveloped?

The development of water-based transportation, both on rivers and the sea, will no doubt help alleviate heavy road traffic.

There is a master plan for the development of the sea ports and routes.

Under the master plan, our country will have six sea ports, one in the north and the other five in Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Nai provinces. At present, it is reported that the sea transportation is seeing an average increase of 20 per cent annually.

How do you comment on Vinashin’s proposal to develop the ocean going fleet at a cost of VND14 trillion (US$757 million) while the Hoa Sen ship that the corporation bought some time ago at the cost of over VND1 trillion is now lying idle at the dock?

The proposal has not yet been approved. My understanding is that Vinashin bought the VND1 trillion ship with a dual purpose in mind: tourism and for car ferrying. The corporation has the right to decide how to run its business as the project is not within the project list that must seek authority from the Government.

But of course before making any big decision, the corporation should consider the pros and cons of the proposal.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News