Cost overrun in Đắk Lắk water supply project

 

After ten years, the reservoir has remained unbuilt. — Photo tuoitre.vn

ĐẮK LẮK – The investment into Đắk Lắk Province’s Krông Pách Thượng reservoir has overrun by more than a decade due to sluggish construction and failed land clearance, Tuổi trẻ (Youth) newspaper has reported.

The project was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in May 2009 with initial investment of nearly VNĐ3 trillion (US$129 million). In late December 2018, it was adjusted to VNĐ4.4 trillion ($189.2 million).

Many local households have planted fruit gardens in the project area, obstructing land clearance, according to Lê Đình Chiến, deputy head of Ea Kar District People’s Committee.  

In a recent meeting with Đắk Lắk Province People’s Committee, deputy agriculture minister Nguyễn Hoàng Hiệp asked the provincial authorities to set up a task force to accelerate the project under the ministry’s guidance.

He also asked to have the compensation re-evaluated to complete land clearance and start constructing the reservoir by the end of 2019.

The project is expected to supply water for nearly 73,000 local households and 14,900ha of farming land.

It covers an area of 2,300ha and will force 663 families to relocate. – VNS