HCMC's VND 10,000 billion tidal flood control project has reached approximately 90% completion but construction has been suspended for over six months. Despite government resolutions aimed at addressing bottlenecks to Ho Chi Minh City's resumption of execution, progress remains stalled.
90% Completed But Stalled
On July 3, a representative from Trungnam Group (the investor) stated that the project titled Tidal Flood Control for HCMC Area Considering Climate Change Factors (Phase 1) has reached approximately 90% of the total construction volume.
Specifically, Ben Nghe tide control sluice (District 1) reached 92%, Tan Thuan (District 7) reached 93%, Phu Xuan (Nha Be District) reached 95%, Muong Chuoi (Nha Be District) reached 90%, Cay Kho (Nha Be District) reached 90%, and Phu Dinh (District 8) reached 92%.
At these 6 major tide-control sluices, installation of sluice gates, hydraulic cylinders, locks, and pump chambers is complete. Remaining items such as wing walls, riverbed stone mattresses, and operational management buildings are temporarily suspended.
Phu Xuan tide control sluice (Nha Be District) fitted with two 212-ton sluice gates by contractors
Representing a total investment of nearly VND 10,000 billion, the project broke ground in mid-2016 to control tidal flooding and proactively respond to climate change across a 750 km² area serving roughly 6.5 million residents along the right bank of the Saigon River and downtown HCMC.
Under the original schedule, the project was slated for completion in April 2018 but experienced a 10-month suspension, pushing completion to June 2019 due to recapitalization hurdles.
Restarted in February 2019, the project was scheduled for commissioning in Q1/2020 but encountered further delays regarding site clearance and loan disbursement.
The investor subsequently affirmed that the project could reach completion in October 2020 to celebrate the 11th HCMC Party Congress, provided site handovers occurred on time. However, site delivery fell behind schedule.
By mid-November 2020, construction halted once again because the HCMC People's Committee had not yet executed the BT (Build-Transfer) contract addendum extending the implementation timeline (the original contract had expired in June 2020).
Awaiting HCMC People's Committee to Finalize Contract Addendum Execution
In early April this year,
the Prime Minister signed Resolution 40 to resolve outstanding bottlenecks, enabling HCMC to continue project execution under specific mechanisms to safeguard economic benefits and prevent resource waste.
The HCMC People's Committee was assigned full responsibility for ensuring project completion in compliance with regulations, settling payments to the investor, and auditing/eliminating unreasonable costs.
Regarding capital funding, the HCMC People's Committee reached consensus with the State Bank of Vietnam and BIDV on loan recapitalization. Furthermore, the Government required HCMC to take full responsibility for resolving legal obstacles, ensuring the efficacy of flood control, and preventing corruption or asset loss.
Speaking with Lao Dong Newspaper, a Trungnam Group representative noted that despite Government Resolution 40 addressing major issues, project progress remains stagnant on the ground.
The investor stated it is still awaiting the HCMC People's Committee to complete procedures for signing the BT contract extension addendum to resume construction. Without this signed addendum, banks cannot disburse the remaining VND 1,800 billion loan, leaving the project stalled.
On July 1, at the conclusion of the regular June 2021 Government meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh instructed ministries, agencies, and localities to proactively resolve backlog tasks with a spirit of "decisively finalizing each issue."
The Prime Minister cited specific examples, including the Cat Linh – Ha Dong elevated railway and HCMC's Tidal Flood Control Project (Phase 1), demanding that projects not be allowed to linger indefinitely.