Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh has urged authorities, developers and contractors to accelerate construction and address bottlenecks in land clearance and material supply, ensuring timely completion of 2 strategic expressways in Mekong Delta.
Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh has called on local authorities, project owners and contractors to urgently address bottlenecks related to land clearance and construction materials, accelerate construction activities and ensure the timely completion of two major expressway projects in the Mekong Delta.
Minister Tran Hong Minh inspects construction progress on a Mekong Delta expressway project during a field visit on June 14.
During a field inspection on June 14, the Minister and a working delegation reviewed construction progress on the Chau Doc–Can Tho–Soc Trang Expressway (Phase 1) and the Can Tho–Ca Mau Expressway.
The Chau Doc–Can Tho–Soc Trang Expressway is a strategic east-west transport corridor linking An Giang Province, Can Tho City and Soc Trang Province. The project is expected to strengthen connectivity between border gateways, economic centres and seaports while creating new opportunities for regional development.
The Minister instructed local authorities to expedite land clearance work to prevent delays and urged project owners and contractors to mobilise maximum manpower, equipment and materials to maintain construction momentum and meet project deadlines.
Addressing ongoing shortages of fill sand and stone, the Minister described construction materials as the most significant challenge facing the projects. He requested local authorities to review quarry capacity, expand production where feasible and regularly update material prices to facilitate timely payments to contractors.
For the Can Tho–Ca Mau Expressway, although the main route has already been opened to traffic, shortages of stone materials continue to affect the completion of several connecting interchanges.
The Minister also called for continuous construction activities and the application of suitable technical solutions to shorten construction time while ensuring project quality and overall effectiveness.
"If stone resources are available but remain unexploited, that is a waste of valuable resources. We cannot allow the Mekong Delta to continue falling behind because of material shortages," the Minister said.