PM wants foreign experts in on Tân Sơn Nhất expansion
The 157-hectare Tân Son Nh?t golf course near Tân Son Nh?t International Airport. The PM has ordered the Ministry of Defence to stop construction of housing and other proposed works at the course pending a study of the airport expansion plans by foreign consultants. Photo news.zing.vn
Viet Nam News
HCM CITY — Prime Minister Nguy?n Xuân Phúc has ordered the Ministry of Transport to hire foreign consultants to conduct a study of the proposed expansion of Tân Son Nh?t International Airport in HCM City.
The ministry must ensure financial and land-use efficiency and there is no corruption in executing the project, and submit the consultants’ study report to the Government by the end of this year, he said.
Phúc was speaking on Monday at a meeting he chaired, which discussed the airport expansion.
The meeting was attended by deputy PMs and the Ministers of Defence, Transport, Construction, Natural Resources and Environment, and the chief of the Government Office.
Mai Ti?n Dung, the chairman of the Government Office, said the PM deeply appreciated the opinions expressed on the issue by National Assembly deputies, voters, experts, the media and the HCM City Party Committee Secretary.
He ordered the defence ministry to “stop work on the golf course in the airport’s vicinity” including a golf school, villas and luxury apartments to await opinions from consultants and scientists.
Dung said the ministry was “willing to hand over defence land for the expansion of Tân Son Nh?t airport”.
“The Government will spare no efforts to expand the airport quickly, safely, efficiently at low cost to reduce the current overloading and congestion at the airport.”
Phúc has also instructed related agencies to speed up work on Long Thành International Airport in Ð?ng Nai Province.
Even after Long Thành goes on stream, Tân Son Nh?t would continue to operate, Phúc has clarified.
In recent years strong growth in air travel has left Tân Son Nh?t badly overloaded, but Long Thành is not scheduled to open until at least 2025. — VNS
