A rendering of the proposed Long Thanh International Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai. Photo courtesy of Airports Corporation of Vietnam

As scheduled, Dong Nai Province will hand over the priority area of ​​1,800ha to the project investor by October, and the entire land by the second quarter of 2021.

Cao Tien Dung, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said at a recent meeting that it was important to complete the assessment of cleared land for affected households within this year.

As of today, Long Thanh District People’s Committee has made three compensation payments worth over VND440 billion (US$19.08 million) to 269 households, according to Dung.

Le Van Tiep, vice chairman of Long Thanh District People’s Committee, said due to the large number of affected households with the large land area, compensation payments will be implemented several times. 

At the end of April, the provincial People’s Committee started construction of five bidding packages to build technical infrastructure at the Loc An - Binh Son resettlement area, including four roads and drainage systems.

Land used for resettlement purpose is expected to be handed over to the affected households next month when the roads are completed. Meanwhile, the remaining technical infrastructure facilities are being implemented quickly, according to Tiep. 

Delayed disbursement

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, delayed land acquisition disbursement for the airport could affect the progress of the airport, scheduled to begin in the second quarter next year and to be completed by 2025.

As of June, only 10 per cent of the VND18.19 trillion ($784 million) allocated for airport land acquisition and compensation had been disbursed, according to the ministry.

In April, the Dong Nai administration committed to disburse all funding within this year, but the low disbursement rate means the province will likely fail to complete land acquisition and compensation by 2021 as promised, experts have warned.

Recently, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested the province to speed up site clearance and compensation as well as disbursement of all VND23 trillion for the airport project in accordance with the law.

The PM also set a deadline for assessment of cleared land for compensation purposes by the end of November.

He suggested that the Ministry of Transport closely work with Dong Nai Province to promptly solve any hurdles to ensure the project remains on schedule.

To build Long Thanh airport, the site clearance project must acquire more than 5,000ha of land and more than 364 extra hectares to build two resettlement sites.

Around 4,800 local households and 26 organisations are expected to be relocated to make way for the proposed airport. 

The airport is expected to serve 100 million passengers and five million tonnes of freight each year.

Covering a total area of more than 5,580 hectares, the airport will be located in six communes in Long Thanh District in Dong Nai Province. The airport’s total investment is VND336.63 trillion ($14.47 billion), with construction divided into three phases.

In the first phase, a runway and one passenger terminal along with other supporting works will be built to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo each year.  VNS

Long Thanh airport project may lag behind schedule

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has expressed concern that the Long Thanh airport project might not get off ground in 2021 as scheduled, as the disbursement of capital for site clearance works has met a mere 10% of the target.  

Compensation rates approved for lands to be acquired for Long Thanh airport

Dong Nai Province authorities have approved the compensation rates payable to households who have to move to make way for the long-awaited Long Thanh international airport.