Chinese general contractor refuses to cooperate in completing Cat Linh-Ha Dong railway

Cat Linh-Ha Dong Railway

China’s EPC general contractor in the Cat Linh-Ha Dong railway project said that they have no obligation to implement the conclusions of the State Audit of Vietnam. Information about the announcement of the EPC was published when the project was undergoing final inspection by the State Acceptance Council and is expected to report the results this October. Vietnamese state media reported on October 11, citing the Ministry of Transport.

According to the news, the Ministry of Transport will hand over the project to Hanoi after being approved by the Audit Council. However, the Ministry said that the payment and implementation of the State Audit’s conclusions encountered obstacles. The reason is that the Chinese General Contractor, EPC, refused to perform the content related to additional costs, incurred, and completed the documents and procedures at the request of the State Audit of Vietnam.

In addition, the Ministry of Transport listed the reasons why the Cat Linh-Ha Dong railway has not been able to operate, including slow site clearance, Vietnam’s regulations on design, equipment supply and construction. It is unclear, so the contract signed with the EPC General Contractor is not suitable with the actual situation at the scene, the Vietnamese side has not yet fully anticipated the technical and technological requirements.

The Cat Linh-Ha Dong railway project lasted more than ten years with more than a dozen delays for commercial operation. The project is expected to come into operation in 2017 with a total investment of more than VND 8,700 billion. However, during the implementation process, the project has invested more than 18,000 billion

Thoibao.de (Translated)

Source: https://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/news/vietnamnews/chinese-contractor-refuses-to-cooperate-in-completion-of-cat-linh-ha-dong-railway-10122021084520.html