Hanoi (VNA) – Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The was grilled by lawmakers onJune 4 about solutions to deal with problems related to transport projectsinvested under the form of build-operate-transfer (BOT). 

The is the first Cabinet member to reply toqueries at the question and answer session of the ongoing fifth session of the14th-tenure National Assembly (NA).

In his report, The said investment under the BOTform has been stepped up since 2009 to develop transport infrastructure.Promoting BOT investment is a policy appropriate to the reality as the budgetis limited while public debt is big, he stressed.

BOT projects have made important contributionsto socio-economic development and created a basis for the completion oftransport system, he noted, admitting that there remain many problems in themanagement, invitation for bidding and operation of BOT toll booths which haveyet to completely ensure harmonious interests among people, the State andinvestors.

Deputy Nguyen Ngoc Phuong of Quang Binh provinceasked about the difference in the numbers of toll collection years between theapproved estimated value and the auditing results announced by the State AuditOffice of Vietnam (SAV).

In response, The said approved BOT projects havebig value because they include many backup costs such as those covering pricedepreciation, site clearance and issues that may need extra funding. 

To ensure transparency in implementing BOTprojects, the Ministry of Transport asked the SAV to audit those projectsbefore summing up total expenses, and the value after total expenses are summedup is the basis for the ministry to adjust toll collection duration andtoll-related policies, he said.

The difference in the numbers of toll collectionyears is obvious, he said, adding that it is the backup costs in the projectswith fast implementation, few cost changes and few extra costs.

Statistics of the SAV and the transport ministryare mainly similar, The said, adding that total expenses of many projectscalculated by the ministry are lower than the corresponding data of the SAV.

At the Q&A session, deputy Luu Binh Nhuongof Ben Tre province attributed problems of transport projects under the public-privatepartnership (PPP) and BOT forms, partly to incomplete regulations, leading tomany violations and failure to ensure fundamental interests of investors, peopleand the State.

The minister acknowledged the incompletion ofregulations on BOT, especially the Law on Public Investment, noting that wrongdoingsin BOT projects have been inspected and his ministry is working to address themthoroughly. The Party and State will assign authorized agencies like theGovernment Inspectorate and the Ministry of Public Security to strictly dealwith those committing violations, he stressed.

To harmonise interests of the State, people andbusinesses, the ministry will pay special attention to BOT projects, The said,affirming that it has cancelled 14 BOT projects on existing roads.

BOT projects will only be implemented on newly-builtroads or roads that have another running parallel so that people can choose thefacilities they want to use, thus harmonising interests of the relevant sides,the minister added.-VNA