Dong Nai (VNS/VNA) - DongNai province’s authorities plan to speed up capital disbursement, as well assite clearance, compensation and resettlement for affected households, so thatconstruction of Long Thanh International Airport can begin this year.
According to the provincialPeople’s Committee, in the 2018-2019 period, the central government allocated 11.49trillion VND (490 million USD) to the province to implement the project.
The province had disbursed 1.17trillion VND (50.1 million USD) as of January, accounting for 10.24 percent ofthe estimate. The province said it would accelerate the disbursement of theremaining capital by the end of this year.
Dong Nai authorities have askedthe Prime Minister for permission to start bomb and mine clearance in the areato expedite progress of the project.
Speaking at a recent meetingwith Dong Nai authorities, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan said thesite must be available no later than August so that the first constructionphase can begin this year. Opening is expected by 2025.
The province said it hadalready paid compensation to Dong Nai Rubber Corporation to build two householdresettlement areas in Loc An and Binh Son communes in Long Thanh district.
The corporation has beguncutting rubber trees to hand over a clean site, according to the provincial People’sCommittee.
The Long Thanh InternationalAirport is a key national project that will have a significant impact on thesouthern key economic region as well as Dong Nai province, according to Tuan.
He suggested that the Ministryof Transport closely work with Dong Nai province to promptly solve problems toensure that the project remains on schedule.
To build the airport, siteclearance is needed for more than 5,000 hectares of land and more than 364additional hectares to build two resettlement sites, including Loc An – Binh Soncovering 282ha and Binh Son with more than 81ha.
As a result, some 4,800 localhouseholds and 26 organisations are expected to be relocated. Some 70 percentof the 15,500 affected people are farmers, and the rest are rubber plantationworkers and workers in other sectors.
The feasibility study for theairport project has been approved by the Government.
Once fully operational, Long Thanhairport will reduce the load on Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City.
The Long Thanh InternationalAirport is expected to handle 100 million passengers and five million tonnes offreight each year.
Covering a total area of morethan 5,580 hectares, the airport will be located in six communes in Long Thanhdistrict in Dong Nai province.
The airport’s total investmentis 336.63 trillion VND (14.35 billion USD), with construction divided intothree phases.
In the first phase, a runwayand one passenger terminal along with other support works will be built toserve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo each year.
The first phase is expected tobe completed by 2025./.