In August this year, investigators found a number of cracks in four tunnel sections pre-constructed for the Thu Thiem Tunnel, which is part of the larger East-West Highway project linking HCMC’s District 1 with District 2. The cracks had developed in the sections, built in neighboring Dong Nai Province, even before they were completed in June, the investigators found.
At the regular session of the HCMC’s People’s Council Thursday, Deputy Pham Van Hai asked the Transport Department to spell out its responsibilities for the technical problems.
But department director Tran Quang Phuong said his department was not to blame. “We are just tasked with monitoring whether the contractors have carried out the relevant procedures properly,” he said.
“We cannot act instead of the investor [of the project],” he said.
The HCMC government is the project’s main investor in the East-West Highway via the HCMC East-West Highway and Water Environment Project Management Unit while the Obayashi Corporation and Pacific Consultants International (PCI) from Japan are the tunnel contractors.
But Deputy Hai was unhappy with Phuong’s response, saying the transport department must bear responsibility to some extent.
Phuong also passed the buck to the HCMC administration for the recent suspension of his subordinate Huynh Ngoc Si, who was the former head of the East-West Highway Project.
Last month, city authorities suspended Huynh Ngoc Si, deputy head of the Department of Transport and chief of the East-West Highway Project, while they investigated claims made in a Tokyo court that Si had taken around US$820,000 in bribes from PCI in 2003 and 2006 to help the firm win consulting contracts.
“Since the project is under the HCMC administration, the scandal involving Si was out of the control [of the transport department],” Phuong said.
Deputies also grilled Phuong over the street barriers that clog many roads in the city.
A city resident used the hotline to draw attention to the problem: “After the street barriers on Ton Duc Thang Street [in District 1] were removed, many pot-holes have appeared, exasperating residents. Perhaps the department director is not been aware of this problem because he uses a car everyday.”
Phuong said he knew about the problem that was vexing residents, and promised the drainage projects would be completed soon, without giving a specific timeframe.
He added, to the alarm of the deputies, it would take at least another four years for the city to tackle flooding.
“Over the past seven years, the department has failed to put at end to gridlocks and flooding, meaning it has had no feasible solutions to the problem,” they said.
They also warned HCMC could suffer another historic flooding like the one in Hanoi in late October that left at least 22 dead or missing.
Tough action promised
The suspension of the deputy director of the city’s Urban Environment Company on Wednesday was timely but not enough, Deputy Dang Van Khoa said.
Last Friday, HCMC police discovered that the Dong Thanh dump site in Hoc Mon District was accepting toxic waste, estimated at hundreds of tons, from a leather tanning company based in neighboring Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.
On Wednesday, the Environment Department said it had suspended Tran Dai Dong, deputy director of the HCMC’s Urban Environment Company, who was held accountable for signing contracts with the Ba RiaVung Tau company to accept the toxic waste.
The license to handle such waste had expired and the company had not reported this to the department.
But Deputy Dang Van Khoa insisted company director, Huynh Minh Nhut, would have to bear responsibility for the illegal dumping that had happened for several months.
Department director Dao Anh Kiet promised no one would be above the law in this case.
Phan Anh Minh, deputy head of the city police department, also said tough action would be taken against all violators.
Source: thanhniennews
No comments:
Post a Comment