Former officials investigated for wrongdoings in expressway project

Mai Tuấn Anh (left) and Trần Văn Tám. — Photo vtv.vn

HÀ NỘI — Seven senior managers at the State-owned Việt Nam Expressway Corporation (VEC) are under investigation for alleged violations.

They have been charged with “violating construction regulations, leading to serious consequences” and “lacking responsibility leading to serious consequences” under the Việt Nam Penal Code 2015.

Those arrested are: Mai Tuấn Anh, former general director and former chairman of the member council of the VEC; Trần Văn Tám, former general director of the VEC and former chairman of the board for acceptance of the Đà Nẵng-Quảng Ngãi Expressway project; Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, former deputy general director of the VEC; Lê Quang Hào, former deputy general director of the VEC and former chairman of the board for acceptance of the Đà Nẵng-Quảng Ngãi Expressway project; Nguyễn Tiến Thành, former director of the project’s management board; Đỗ Ngọc Ân, former deputy director of the project’s management board and Hà Văn Bình, former deputy director of the project’s management board.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, they are accused of carrying out faulty pre-acceptance testing of the construction project of the expressway that was not in line with regulations and provisions of the law, not in compliance with the approved standards, technical instructions, and the project design requirements, resulting in unqualified works being put into use, causing very serious consequences.

The police are expanding the investigation to clarify the role of each of the suspects involved in the case.

The expressway has a total length of over 139.2km, running through Đà Nẵng City, Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi provinces, which constitutes a major part of the central key economic region of the country.

With construction beginning in 2013, the expressway’s total costs came to upwards of VNĐ34.5 trillion (US$1.64 billion), including $798.5 million in loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and over $590 million from the World Bank (WB), with the remainder sourced from the Vietnamese Government’s budget.

In November last year, the Hà Nội People’s Court held the first-instance trial of 36 defendants in the violation case that occurred at the Đà Nẵng-Quảng Ngãi Expressway project. — VnExpress News