HCMC seeks $757 mln from central budget for major projects

The city wants the state budget to cover all costs for the renovation of Xuyen Tam and Hy Vong canals.

For the Moc Bai Expressway, the city has asked for financial support to clear the site for the section that runs through the city.

In a statement sent recently to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the city administration said that the three projects were important and urgent, but the city was facing financial difficulties and did not have enough funds to implement them.

The city has been prioritizing its budget spending for fighting Covid-19 and this has made it more difficult to allocate funds for infrastructure projects.

Therefore, the city wants the ministry to support and propose that the central government approves additional central budget allocations for the three projects from now until 2025.

The Xuyen Tam Canal flows more than 8 km (almost five miles) through Go Vap and Binh Thanh districts.

The project to upgrade it estimated to costs VND9.35 trillion. It would dredge the canal bed, build embankments and roads along its sides as also a sewage collection system.

The renovation of Hy Vong Canal, which runs 1.8 km in Tan Binh District, will enable it to function as a drainage canal for the Tan Son Nhat Airport. The VND1.98 trillion project, when complete, will help improve the environment along the Hy Vong canal and reduce flooding at the airport.

Construction of the VND15.9 trillion ($587 million) HCMC- Moc Bai Expressway is set to begin in 2023 and be completed in 2025.

It will run about 50 km, linking HCMC with the neighboring province of Tay Ninh that borders Cambodia.

The project will help complete the traffic network of the Southern Key Economic Zone, reduce overload on National Highway 22, and increase capacity of the road connecting the city with Cambodia.