VietNamNet Bridge – The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang should build more roads to link its districts with the rest of the province and with highways connecting other provinces and cities to attract more investors, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The said yesterday.

Highway No.60 in Ben Tre Province is overloaded with vehicles which have to pass over Rach Mieu Bridge.—VNA/VNS Photo Cong Tri

At a meeting with the province People’s Committee, The pointed out that provinces and cities with good traffic infrastructure have seen their economic benefit.

Kien Giang should invite airlines to resume flights between Rach Gia City and Phu Quoc Island to help attract more tourists to the latter, he said.

On Monday the minister and his aides checked the progress of construction of Lo Te Road from Kien Giang Province’s Chau Thanh District to Can Tho City.

Tran Van Thi, general director of the Cuu Long Corporation for Investment, Development and Management for Transport Infrastructure Projects, said the construction would be finished by August if funds were allocated in time.

The construction of bridges at Ta Nom and Kenh, which was recently added to the project, will begin later and everything is expected to be finished by March next year.

To cost VND6.7 trillion (US$288 million), the road will serve as an important link between HCM City and Kien Giang and with other provinces in the Mekong Delta.

Mai Anh Nhin, vice chairman of the province People’s Committee, said development of traffic infrastructure was synchronous and planning and progress of works was proper.

Since 2016 more than VND1.2 trillion has been spent on building roads in rural areas.

The province has three ports, Tac Cau, Rach Gia and Ha Tien, 638 bus stations and wharves for transport of people and cargo.

It also has 173 roads and waterway routes and 5,802 vehicles to traverse them.

The province asked the minister for more funds for maintaining roads, replacing degraded bridges on Highway No.80, carrying out works at the Phu Quoc International Airport, and executing other key projects like the section of Ho Chi Minh Road running through the province.

The and ministry officials also met the leaders of Ben Tre, Tien Giang and Dong Thap provinces to learn about the work on Rach Mieu Bridge No.2 and Highway No.30.

The four-lane bridge will cost more than VND4.6 trillion and is being built in public-private partnership mode.

Phan Van Mai, standing deputy secretary of the Ben Tre Province Party Committee, said the existing Rach Mieu Bridge was overloaded because of the heavy traffic, especially during Tet every year and weekends.

The Rach Mieu Bridge No.2 linking Tien Giang would serve not only Ben Tre but also the region’s eastern coastal provinces of Tra Vinh, Vinh Long, Soc Trang and others to spearhead the whole region’s economic development, he said.

It would also help reduce the load on Highway No.1, and the ministry should approve the construction quickly, he said.

He said public money should be used for the construction because raising official development assistance (ODA) loans would take time while clearing the traffic congestion on the existing Rach Mieu Bridge was an urgent need.

The new bridge will be 3.8 kilometres upstream of the existing one and not be linked with Highway No.57 to avoid overloading at the roundabout leading into Ben Tre City.

The said the new bridge was vital and the proposal to build it would be submitted to the National Assembly next year.

If approved, construction would begin immediately and be finished in 2023, he said.

The Highway No.30 section between An Huu Commune in Tien Giang Province and Dong Thap Province’s Cao Lanh City was also vital because traffic was expected to increase by 30 per cent from Rach Gia and Ha Tien cities in Kien Giang Province after a bridge linking Dong Thap Province with Can Tho City opens to traffic in this year, the minister said. 

Source: VNS