Hai Phong currently has a number of key projects using ODA loans and foreign concessional loans that are behind schedule and […]
Hai Phong currently has a number of key projects using ODA loans and foreign preferential loans that are behind schedule for many years; The agreement had to be extended many times. This causes many consequences, significantly affecting the development of the city. According to the leaders of the Department of Finance, there are many difficulties and problems, mainly under the authority of the Central government, so even though they really want to speed up the process of implementing projects, Hai Phong still has to wait.
Rainwater drainage, wastewater and solid waste management projects were slow to be completed due to problems in capital disbursement.
Photo: HOANG PHUOC
Lack of capital resources
According to Mr. Ta Viet Dong, Director of the Management Board (Management Board) of the urban development project and civil construction investment project, the Hai Phong rainwater drainage, wastewater and solid waste management project phase 1 has been implemented since 2004 but is still quite messy. Currently, the project's ODA capital is lacking about more than 1,500 billion VND, so it is likely that disbursement will not be completed before the loan agreement expiration date of January 28, 2020.
Similarly, at the Hai Phong urban transport development project, the accumulated disbursement of IDA capital (concessional loan from the International Development Association) has reached 123.5 million USD, equal to 79.5%. In 2019, the Ministry of Planning and Investment assigned a capital plan for the project of 141.8 billion VND, and to date, disbursement has basically been completed. The remaining 50 billion VND of counterpart capital was planned from the city budget, with only 11.3 billion VND disbursed.
According to the Department of Finance, in 2018, the total planned ODA loan capital of Hai Phong was 1,514 billion VND; 946 billion VND has been disbursed, equal to 62.5% of the plan. The remaining undisbursed capital is 568 billion VND, equivalent to 37.5% of the assigned plan. In 2019, the total ODA loan capital assigned by the Prime Minister to Hai Phong was 216 billion VND; Disbursed VND 199.6 billion, reaching a rate of 92.4%. However, the required capital is still lacking, so it also affects the progress of two ODA projects: the Hai Phong urban transport development project and the Hai Phong rainwater drainage, wastewater and solid waste management project phase 1.
In addition, in Hai Phong, there are a number of ODA projects and foreign preferential loans that are also in a state of capital shortage and slow disbursement such as the project to strengthen land management and land database of more than 8.8 billion VND that has not been disbursed; The waste treatment system project for general hospitals in Hai Phong city has just disbursed 1.1/8.19 billion VND; The 27.2 billion VND project to provide medical equipment to Hai Phong Obstetrics Hospital has not yet been disbursed.
Funding is already difficult, but the undisbursed capital in 2018 that the Government agreed to extend to 2019 still has many problems. According to the Department of Finance, the problem in the Ministry of Finance's debt acceptance with foreign donors has not been completely resolved. Therefore, the amount of more than 500 billion VND in 2018 was extended to 2019 but has not been disbursed.
The Department of Finance also said that there are a number of other reasons why ODA loans and foreign concessional loans are slowly disbursed. That is, the project preparation work is lengthy, making the original design no longer suitable, leading to adjustments, while the processes and procedures between Vietnam and the sponsor are different, leading to slow progress (shown in the project to provide medical equipment for the Obstetrics Hospital). On the other hand, due to the investor's capacity not meeting project management requirements, slow coordination with relevant ministries, branches and donors to promptly grasp changes, difficulties and obstacles in the management and use of ODA loans, leading to failure to implement the assigned capital plan (project to provide medical equipment for the Obstetrics Hospital; project to provide medical equipment for the Obstetrics Hospital; projectproject to strengthen land management and land database...).
The implementation of the Hai Phong urban transport development project was prolonged due to lack of capital and slow site clearance.
Suggestions for resolving problems
At the recent regular online meeting of the Government in June, Comrade Nguyen Van Tung, Chairman of the City People's Committee stated clearly: ODA capital of 2 Hai Phong urban transport development projects and Hai Phong rainwater drainage, wastewater and solid waste management project phase 1 still lacks 1,625 billion VND while the latest request is to end in early 2020. Therefore, the Chairman of the People's Committee Nguyen Van Tung City requested the Government to pay attention to allocating enough ODA capital above in 2019 and 2020.
In addition, the Department of Finance also requested the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Debt Management and Foreign Finance to help Hai Phong quickly disburse ODA loans of more than 500 billion VND from 2018. The Management Board of urban development projects and civil construction investment also requested city sectors to coordinate with the Management Board to work with relevant ministries and branches to carry out procedures to continue extending the loan agreement for Hai Phong rainwater drainage, wastewater and solid waste management project phase 1 until January 28, 2021. The Management Board of the Hai Phong traffic construction investment project wants An Duong and Hai An districts to completely resolve the problems and obstacles in site clearance for the Hai Phong urban traffic development project.Don't let disbursement delay happen because of slow site clearance.
THANH HIEP
baohaiphong.com.vn
Procedures
