Strict penalties applied for slow rate of road maintenance disbursement

Contractors repair the national road surface in Tuy An District in Phú Yên Province. VNA/VNS Photo Xuân Triệu

HÀ NỘI – The Việt Nam Road Administration (VNRA) under the Ministry of Transport has proposed revoking the authority of localities that fail to keep up with the disbursement progress for road maintenance funds.

Local leaders will be held accountable for any delays in disbursement by the end of this year.

This measure is part of a series of solutions aimed at accelerating the disbursement process for road maintenance this year.

Đoàn Chí Hiếu, head of the VNRA's Planning Department, said that in 2024, the administration was allocated VNĐ11.5 trillion (US$454.8 million) for road maintenance. As of the end of June 2024, only over VNĐ3.2 trillion ($126.5 million) has been disbursed, reaching 28 per cent of the planned amount.

Tây Ninh has the lowest disbursement rate at 3.7 per cent, followed by Vĩnh Phúc at 5.28 per cent, Nam Định at 8.1 per cent and Khánh Hoà at 8.5 per cent. The provinces of Quảng Ninh, Hoà Bình, Kiên Giang and Quảng Ngãi have relatively low disbursement rates of 10 per cent, 12 per cent, 13 per cent and 14.1 per cent, respectively.

Notably, 70 out of 147 projects that the administration has allocated funds for have not yet undergone maintenance. The reason is the slow progress in selecting contractors and signing construction contracts by the localities. Specifically, Hoà Bình has eight out of 15 pending projects, Vĩnh Phúc has all three pending projects, Cao Bằng has five out of 15 pending projects and Quảng Ngãi has all ten pending projects.

The administration had required localities to develop disbursement plans for the last six months of the year. Most units had registered for 100 per cent disbursement, but many localities have been slow in preparing monthly disbursement plans.

Localities that have not achieved 70 per cent of their disbursement plans include Hòa Bình, Lai Châu, Lào Cai, Vĩnh Phúc, Tuyên Quang, Hà Giang, Bắc Kạn, Quảng Ninh, Bắc Ninh, Thái Bình, Quảng Nam, Gia Lai, Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu, Long An and Kiên Giang.

Phạm Trọng Tài, deputy director of the Điện Biên Province’s Transport Department, said that the administration has currently authorised the transport departments to approve repair projects costing less than VNĐ5 billion. However, if adjustments are needed during the construction process, they must be approved by the investment decision maker.

He recommended a stronger delegation of authority, proposing that the entire maintenance process be entrusted to the investors to avoid delays caused by the need to consult the administration for urgent repairs.

To expedite the disbursement progress in the final months of the year, the administration has instructed the road management zones, transport departments and project management boards to promptly select contractors, sign contracts and report any issues to accelerate the process.

Additionally, they are required to review and re-register plans to ensure the disbursement rate of allocated funds.

Bùi Quang Thái, director of the VNRA, added that the annual maintenance funding only meets 40 per cent of the needs but remains unspent, with a large amount of carryover funding from the previous year.

He emphasised the need to spend funds correctly and entirely within the fiscal year, noting that while decentralisation is being strengthened, it must be implemented appropriately.

For the 2025 maintenance plan, the administration has introduced several measures to speed up the bidding and contractor selection processes to ensure projects can start early in the year and meet disbursement deadlines.

Transport departments that continue to delay disbursement will have their authority to manage national roads revoked and leaders of the departments will take responsibility for the delay. — VNS