Construction of the hospital on Nguyen Van Cu Street began in October 2017 with VND1.39 trillion coming from Hungarian ODA.
The 15,500 m2 facility is designed to have four main blocks. The Mekong Delta’s most modern cancer hospital was supposed to have opened to the public in 2020.
Due to disagreements surrounding medical equipment and installation, the project has halted for over a year. Construction materials languish in the open, exposed to the elements and rusting.
Pham Phu Truong Giang, deputy director of the city Department of Health, said head of the project's joint contractors, VMD Kórházi Technológiai Zrt of Hungary, has constantly made requests to change the medical and construction equipment for the site, which has made it impossible to fulfill an agreement with the Hungarian government in which 50% of the goods must have Hungarian origins.
The contract between the Can Tho Health Department and the joint venture already expired on July 10, 2022, while the loan agreement signed by the Ministry of Finance and Eximbank Hungary also expired on July 11, 2022. The project, as a result, has been rendered "frozen" for the past year.
In the front yard, metal beams rust over time.
Vines climb over the walls of the project.
The Can Tho People's Committee once proposed that the government stop using the ODA from Hungary and to use national and local budgets to finish the job instead. But that proposal has yet to be approved.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang (C), along with a government delegation, visit the hospital on July 8 for an inspection.
Quang has instructed the Can Tho People's Committee to evaluate the situation and resolve existing issues. The Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Committee, plan to discuss solutions to all issues with Hungary soon.
