Land clearing plans for HCMC’s second metro line stuck in limbo

The Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), the Ben Thanh-Tham Luong metro line’s main investor, on Thursday said the land clearing percentage for the line is just 83 percent. The line runs through Districts 1, 3, 10, 12, Tan Binh and Tan Phu, requiring over 251,000 square meters of land to be cleared. Compensation and relocation fees for affected people are estimated at over VND4.35 trillion ($191.4 million).

By the end of 2021, out of 603 cases to be relocated due to land clearing, around 50 have yet to be compensated due to multiple issues, including legal procedures and compensation disagreements.

MAUR is now requesting relevant parties to consult the HCMC People’s Committee to approve the land price coefficient for District 3 and encourage citizens to resolve compensation and relocation issues.

HCMC’s second metro line, costing over VND47.8 trillion and spanning over 11 km, has nine underground stations and one elevated station. Land has been cleared for four stations.

The line was supposed to go into operation in 2026, but still have obstacles to hurdle through like relocation issues, loan extension and impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.