HCM City to unilaterally terminate contract on stalled road project

An unfinished section of the road project. — Photo chinhphu.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City will unilaterally terminate the BOT contract for a road project worth over VNĐ1.5 trillion (US$59 million) where construction has been stalled for the past six years.

The 2.7km road section was intended to connect Võ Văn Kiệt Boulevard to the HCM City-Trung Lương Expressway.

The BOT (build-operate-transfer) project was scheduled from 2015 to 2017 and was led by investor Yên Khánh Group and HCM City BOT One Member Co Ltd.

Construction began in October 2015 and continued until mid-2018, at which point it had cost VNĐ140 billion ($5.5 million), or 12 per cent of its planned capital.

HCM City People’s Committee has assigned the municipal Transportation Works Construction Investment Project Management Authority to work with the project stakeholders to review the paperwork and construction to complete procedures for unilateral contract termination. The city’s Department of Planning and Investment and inspection agency will also work on this process.

According to a report from the multi-sectoral working group, HCM City Department of Transport has worked with stakeholders to address any violations of the BOT contract agreements.

These include stalling construction since June 2018, being unable to provide documents, demonstrating capital allocation to continue the signed BOT contract and guaranteeing the execution of the contract and other relevant agreements.

Reports on project progress were requested from investors and businesses involved in the project, but they repeatedly asked for extensions. They explained that many documents were misplaced and contractors could not begin settlement processes due to the lack of information. — VNS