VietNamNet Bridge - "Quality is the honor of the transport sector. We have to feel shame when we see bad roads. Those who built bad roads must be seriously handled," Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang emphasized.




Regard to road maintenance, many leaders of transportation departments reflected the state of overloaded trucks causing damage to the road at the 2012 Review Meeting of the General Department of Road on January 21.

According to Mr. Hoang Van Hue, deputy director of the Department of Transportation of Nghe An province, increased traffic, including large trucks has damaged many roads in the province. The agency had tried to restrict overloaded vehicles but recently, more than 300 transportation companies proposed the Nghe An government to allow vehicles of carrying overloaded to help business effectively compete with transport enterprises of other provinces.

"We firmly disagreed with their proposal although this is a controversial issue. Overloaded trucks had damaged roads greater than the contribution of transport enterprises. However, the General Department of Roads should strictly control the right vehicle load throughout the country," Hue said.

This official said that to repair the roads, they had to place orders in advance but this rule does not match the fact because there are so many road incidents that happen unforeseen.

4 Road Management Zone’s representative also said that this unit manages more than 600km of the Highway 1, which serves 200-ton trucks. However, this route has not been repaired for more than 15 years.

In 2012, the General Department of Roads repaired more than 1,100 km of roads, 240 bridges and other structures with a total disbursed capital of VND2,700 billion. This year, the agency is expected to be allocated with VND4,377 billion from the road maintenance fund to repair roads.

At the meeting, Minister Dinh La Thang asked relevant agencies to take measures to improve the quality of road repair, especially the highways. Accordingly, the management agency has to hire big corporations to mobilize machinery and application of new technology to repair the road.

"Maintaining roads will have to be conducted through bids, not assignment as before. Road Management Boards have to hire big contractors rather than mobilizing their workers to mend the road. With road building contractors, they will be hired for later maintenance to enhance their responsibility," Minister Thang said.

The Minister also said that those who build bad roads must be seriously handled and they must be sacked from the transport sector.

"We collect fees from vessel owners so we are responsible to use it effectively. It is the honor of the transport sector. We have to be shamed when we see bad roads," Minister Thang pressed.

Vu Diep