New scheme drawn up for alumina transport

Vinh Tan Port is under construction and set for completion in 2014, which is seen as an advantage of this scheme. In response, the Vietnam Road Administration has just submitted to the Ministry of Transport a scheme for transporting alumina products via Vinh Tan. Under the scheme, Nhan Co and Tan Rai alumina plants will transport the product through Provincial Road 714, a section from La Da to the intersection with National Highway 28, and then via Provincial Road 711 and National Highway 1A to Vinh Tan Port.

However, it has three disadvantages, including a longer transport route (141 kilometers), a higher investment cost (VND2.8 trillion) and a slower project planning process due to things being done from scratch. The total length of the route via Ke Ga Port is only 78.5 kilometers and the investment cost is some VND2.02 trillion.

In addition, Provincial Road 714 and National Highway 28 are very narrow, with a lot of deteriorating bridges. Only the 82-km section of National Highway 1A is 12 meters wide, while the 1-km road linking the highway to Vinh Tan Port is now temporary.

Regarding the bauxite route from Lam Dong to Go Dau Port, the authorities of Dong Nai Province said the upgrade work was facing many difficulties.

Speaking to the Daily on Thursday, Truong Huu Hiep, director of Lam Dong’s department of transport, said Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) had yet to advance funds for the province to continue construction of Provincial Road 725.

"Vinacomin has said they will allocate capital in October, but it is unknown if they will stick to this schedule. Vinacomin has yet to disburse a penny from the VND177.8 billion budget for the project,” Hiep stressed.

At a recent meeting, Vinacomin said the group would delay trial operation of the plant until this year’s end, but no official document had been released, said Hiep. Earlier, the State-run group intended to start trial operation in October.

The project to upgrade National Highway 20 was kicked off on December 23 last year, but so far only a section in Lam Dong Province has been deployed.

According to the Road Administration Zone 7, the surface of National Highway 20 has badly deteriorated, leaving many potholes. The Road Administration Zone 7 has fixed the potholes using a regular maintenance budget, but other damages have emerged.

Concerning the progress of the National Highway 20 upgrade project, Tran Viet Bong, deputy head of the Project Management Unit 7 under the transport ministry, told the Daily that 2-3 more construction packages would be executed in Dong Nai this October.

The project is scheduled for completion in late 2014. However, Bong said the project was facing many problems, especially site clearance at residential areas.