VietNamNet Bridge – Over 3,300 out of 5,300 households affected by Long Thanh Airport project will have to move to facilitate construction, with site clearance, compensation and resettlement costs estimated at VND20.7 trillion, or US$1 billion.

Dong Nai Province’s authorities in a working session with Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai on March 14 said around 5,000 hectares of land would be reclaimed, including nearly 4,700 hectares of farmland.

Over 5,300 families will be affected by the project, with 3,300 households to be displaced, over 1,500 tombs removed, and five schools and three government offices relocated.

Local government estimated some VND15.3 trillion will be spent on compensation and VND5.4 trillion for resettlement projects.

Local authorities have advanced capital for construction of Loc An and Binh Son resettlement projects with each covering around 282 hectares.

At the meeting with Deputy PM Hai, local government proposed an allocation of VND470 billion from the State budget this year, including VND30 billion for planning, VND390 billion for compensation for two resettlement areas and VND50 billion for construction of a cemetery.

In 2015, VND2.5 trillion should be allocated for resettlement area construction and nearly VND4.2 trillion for airport site clearance. In the 2017-2020 period, the Government is expected to spend an additional VND11.1 trillion on airport site clearance.

Speaking at the meeting, the deputy prime minister said this is an urgent project as the Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC is becoming overloaded. The Ministry of Transport was told to finish preparation for the project and report to the Government and the National Assembly Standing Committee in May.

The project will affect over 10,000 citizens in working ages, so related agencies and local authorities should join hands to give supportive measures, Hai said.

As planned, the airport will be put into use in 2020. It will be able to serve 50 million passengers each year until 2030 and handle 100 million passengers and five million tons of goods annually after 2030.

While pending construction of Long Thanh Airport in Dong Nai, Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) is also planning to expand Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC to serve the increasing number of passengers.

The domestic terminal will have additional lounge space of 2,000 square meters and technical area on 500 square meters. Once completed, the terminal will have total area of over 39,000 square meters to serve 4,500 passengers an hour, raising total capacity of the domestic terminal to 12 million guests a year.

The current international terminal has capacity of 10 million passengers each year and is expected to run at full capacity in 2014. Therefore, ACV has plans to broaden the terminal to serve 13 million passengers a year.

Source: SGT