Highway jammed by lack of compensation HA NOI (VNS) - A shortage of compensation for site clearance has been blamed for delays to a project to expand the North-South National Highway 1A running through the two central provinces of Phu Yen and Binh Dinh. Speaking in a televised dialogue held by the Government web portal and Viet Nam Television yesterday, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The said that after one year of implementation, 15 out of 17 provinces on the project's path from the central province of Thanh Hoa to the Mekong Delta province of Can Tho had finished site clearance. "Of the total 1,200km, there are still about 4km in Phu Yen and Binh Dinh which have not been cleared and handed over for the project," The said. The central province of Binh Dinh has 118km of National Highway 1A running through it, and 83.5km of that route are part of the expansion project. Deputy Chairman of the Binh Dinh Province People's Committee Ngo Dong Hai said that most of the problems were in Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) packages in its districts of Hoai Tan and Hoai Nhon, and at the crossroads with National Highway 1 and National Highway 19. "The site clearance problems in these two areas are due to land ownership clarification, property value and compensation," Hai said. "Compensation is the most important thing as we need money to pay local people to relocate. "For these two BOT packages, the actual payment is much higher than the initial approved project, making it difficult to compensate residents," he said. Hai added that the province, together with the Ministry of Transport, had worked with investors and contractors to mobilise capital to pay locals. The neighbouring province of Phu Yen, which is home to more than 92km of National Highway 1A, including the Deo Ca Tunnel project, also shares the same story. Deputy Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, Le Van Truc, said that problems arising from site clearance were a result of disagreements over compensation between local people and the project's investor. "More than 5,300 households in the province are affected by the project, including 1,100 households who have had to move from the area," Truc said. Truc explained that the province did not have the money to invest in resettlement areas. "Until earlier this year, we had financial support from the Government so we could concentrate on building these areas," he said. So far, 300 out of 1,100 households have been resettled in Phu Yen Province. "We are encouraging the remaining residents to move to resettlement areas, but they still want to live beside the highway," Truc said. Deputy Transport Ministry Nguyen Van The said that local council on site clearance should check any complaints about compensation from locals. "Authorities need to work with residents to work out solutions for their complaints as soon as possible," he said. Work starts on bypass Work on the construction of a bypass in Phu Ly City in the northern province of Ha Nam - a section of National Highway 1A that is a key national infrastructure project – began yesterday. Present at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai highlighted the concerted effort by the transport sector to support national transport infrastructure, which will be supported by the Phu Ly Bypass. He praised the Ministry of Transport for mobilising capital from all possible sources for the project. The Phu Ly Bypass project has total investment of over VND2.04 trillion (US$97.5 million) in the Build-Operate-Transfer model. When complete in 2016, it will help reduce traffic congestion on National Highway 1A and form a connection between Ha Nam and its neighbours. The Phu Ly Bypass is 23.3 km long. It is designed to have four lanes for motorised vehicles, with a speed limit of 80km per hour. - VNS