Lam Dong Accelerates Efforts to Remove Bottlenecks for Two Key Expressway Projects

Focusing on land clearance, minerals and forestry procedures

The meeting focused on resolving difficulties and obstacles related to site clearance, compensation, resettlement support, minerals, forestry procedures and public investment disbursement for the two key expressway projects in the province.

At the meeting, representatives of the Department of Agriculture and Environment said many localities are still facing difficulties in verifying land origins, particularly for plots transferred through multiple owners via handwritten documents, land without completed legal procedures, or land originating from agricultural and forestry farms.

Several localities, including Gia Hiep, Bao Lam 2 and Ninh Gia, have also encountered issues involving defense land, the classification of land inside and outside residential areas, land group identification, and cases where land use right certificates are mortgaged to banks.

Regarding compensation and resettlement policies, local authorities reported difficulties in applying policies to transitional projects, while compensation prices for land remain low in some areas of Di Linh, Gia Hiep and Duc Trong. In addition, there is currently no specific guidance on vocational training and job transition support for households whose land is acquired.

Some remaining land areas after acquisition are also unsuitable for production or have unidentified land users, creating further challenges for site clearance efforts.

Concerning mineral-related issues, the Department of Agriculture and Environment stated that the Tan Phu – Bao Loc Expressway Project currently overlaps with approximately 224 hectares of bauxite planning areas, equivalent to around 36.4 kilometers of the route.

Regarding the assessment of economic efficiency in bauxite recovery, Tan Phu – Bao Loc Expressway Investment Co., Ltd. has submitted documents requesting appraisal of the socio-economic efficiency report related to bauxite recovery within the project area.

The Department of Agriculture and Environment held a meeting on May 6 to request the investor to supplement and clarify several issues concerning recovered ore volume, mineral management plans and consistency with design documents and site clearance plans.

For the Bao Loc – Lien Khuong Expressway Project, Bao Loc – Lien Khuong Expressway BOT Joint Stock Company has completed the economic efficiency assessment report for bauxite recovery. The Department of Agriculture and Environment is continuing to review and finalize the documents in accordance with regulations.

Accelerating coordination to ensure project progress

In the forestry sector, for the Tan Phu – Bao Loc Expressway Project, the Provincial People’s Committee has approved a plan allowing Tan Phu – Bao Loc Expressway Investment Co., Ltd. to pay more than VND 94.679 billion for replacement forest planting on areas converted from forest land use purposes.

However, the enterprise proposed making an initial payment of more than VND 56.922 billion, while the remaining VND 37.757 billion would be paid after being added to the BOT contract as a State capital contributions.

For the Bao Loc – Lien Khuong Expressway Project, Bao Loc – Lien Khuong Expressway BOT Joint Stock Company has completed payment for replacement forest planting into the State budget.

At the meeting, representatives of departments, agencies, units and localities reported on the progress of related tasks and proposed various solutions to remove difficulties and obstacles arising during project implementation.

Concluding the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Hong Hai requested departments, agencies and localities to continue proactively coordinating to resolve bottlenecks, urgently complete documents related to land, minerals, forestry and compensation and site clearance in order to keep the province’s key expressway projects on schedule.

Nguyen Hong Hai emphasized that localities need to closely review each specific case, strengthen dialogue and communication efforts to build public consensus, while accelerating the disbursement of public investment capital to ensure projects are implemented according to schedule.