HCMC – The Ministry of Transport (MOT) will commence 12 packages of auxiliary projects under the North-South Expressway project’s second phase by the end of the year.

The projects will cover a total length of 723.7 kilometers, including 260.9 kilometers of the Ha Tinh-Quang Tri section, 352 kilometers of the Quang Ngai–Nha Trang section and nearly 111 kilometers of the Can Tho–Ca Mau section.

Preliminary figures showed that the projects would require some VND147 trillion.

The ministry has urged the relevant localities to hand over 70% of land for the projects before November 20 and step up efforts to clear sites for the eastern section of the North-South Expressway project in the 2021–2025 period.

Besides, it wants to prioritize construction supervision and consultancy packages so that it can sign construction agreements prior to December 20 and break ground earlier than December 31 as prescribed by Decree 18/NQ-CP.

However, the compensation and resettlement plans remain slow, making the plan for handover of 70% of land for the projects fall behind schedule, the Vietnam News Agency reported, citing data from project management boards.

Until now, the authorities have approved the compensation plans for some 1,600 hectares, with just some VND2.2 trillion disbursed, accounting for over a quarter of the goal.