HCMC strives to finalize Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro line by 2020

Lacking capital is a major cause of the delayed progress.

The municipal People’s Committee appointed Bui Xuan Cuong, who is the director of the city’s Department of Transport, as the head of the Ho Chi Minh City urban railway management board, on January 4. He will represent the city in their quest to finally have the project finished by 2020.

Le Nguyen Minh Quang had previously resigned from his position as the head of the management board, due to personal reasons. His resignation was approved by the municipal People’s Committee on January 2.

Nguyen Thien Nhan, secretary of the municipal Party Committee, said the Politburo gave in-principle approval to continue implementing the city’s mega metro project which includes the first Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line. The Government has been assigned to work alongside Ho Chi Minh City to implement the project.

Nhan further said the city will team up with ministries and sectors to spur on the project and have the metro line operational by 2020 as scheduled as well as beginning the implementation of other lines.

Earlier, VOV Online reported the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line project suffered from a lack of up to VND20.5 trillion (US$873.7 million) for its continued development.

Some VND28 trillion (US$1.19 billion) are needed to maintain work and finalize the project by 2020. However, the Ministry of Planning and Investment have only allocated VND7.5 trillion (US$319.65 million) for the project.

To ensure progress, the city has advanced the budget to pay a total of VND2.3 trillion (US$98.02 million) for construction contractors.

Construction on the project, funded by Japanese loans, began in 2007. The execution of the project could be halted in December 2018 if no fresh payments are made, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Umeda Kunio said in a letter sent to the city’s Party Committee and the Vietnamese Government last November.

According to the local government, the total capital needed to complete the metro line has skyrocketed from an initial VND17.4 trillion (US$741.5 million) to VND47.3 trillion (US$2.01 billion). The additional injection of capital is under scrutiny.

The Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line is part of a comprehensive public transport network plan to connect the southern city with neighbouring provinces as well as ease severe traffic congestion affecting the city.

The first metro line, stretching nearly 20km, is to connect the bustling inner city market of Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien Park in District 9. It has been delayed several times, taking it to the current estimated completion date of 2020.