Part of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, HCM City. The Defence Ministry will allocate an additional 20 hectares of land for the expansion of the airport. — VNA/VNs Photo Phuong Vy

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — The Ministry of Defence will hand over 20 hectares of land near Tan Son Nhat International Airport to the Ministry of Transport for an airport expansion, said an official.

Speaking during an online conference last week, Phung Quang Thanh, Minister of Defence, said the ministry will allocate an additional 20 hectares of land for an additional expansion.

The land would be used to improve transport infrastructure and expand Cong Hoa Street, which connects to the airport, he said.

Vo Van Tuan, deputy head of the general staff of Viet Nam People's Army, told Nguoi Lao Dong (the Labourer) newspaper on Tuesday that the ministry will allocate the land as soon as possible to reduce overloading at the airport.

The demand for the airport expansion is very high because the airport is overloaded not only in passenger terminals but also in airplane parking areas, runways and roads connecting to the airport, said an official of Tan Son Nhat Airport.

Previously, the Ministry of Defence had agreed to allocate 7.63 hectares of land for the Ministry of Transport to expand the airport.

Of the figure, four hectares has been handed over and the rest will be handed over by the end of February 2016.

The 7.63 hectares of land will be used for airplane parking areas and expanding the taxiway M1.

Under the planning of roads connecting to the airport, Truong Son Road is still a main road with six lanes connecting to the airport. The Tan Son Nhat – Binh Loi Road will also be completed, connecting to the airport.

Traffic jams on Truong Son, Hong Ha and Bach Dang roads in the airport area occur frequently.

Residents to be resettled

Residents in the southern province of Dong Nai who will be resettled to other areas to make way for construction of Long Thanh International Airport expected the project to begin so that their lives would be stabilised soon.

This was revealed at a dialogue with a working group of the National Assembly's Economic Committee and representatives from Dong Nai Province agencies on Tuesday that most of them supported the project's implementation.

They expected the National Assembly to promptly issue policies on financial compensation, support schemes, site clearance and resettlement for residents.

Nguyen Van Hau, a Long An Commune resident, said thousands of households didn't dare to repair or build their houses despite the fact that the project was planned 20 years ago.

The road was covered with mud and dust while the project was on hold for a long time so local people worried about having to move to other places, he said.

Nguyen Van Trung, another resident, said like other people in the commune he was ready to give up land for public interest but he hoped that the government would provide appropriate compensation.

Vo Van Chanh, deputy chairman of the provincial People's Committee, said authorities were preparing documents to separate compensation, site clearance, resettlement and vocational training to submit to the Government for approval in a bid to speed up the project.

They were also completing policies on financial compensation, support schemes and resettlement for people who were affected by the Long Thanh Airport project to submit to the government for approval.

Nguyen Van Phuc, deputy head of the National Assembly's Economic Committee, said much attention had been paid by the National Assembly to the project.

He suggested the provincial authorities publicise and provide adequate information on the project. The External Committee would soon ask the National Assembly's Standing Committee to review and find a special mechanism for the issues.

According to Dong Nai province's Natural Resources and Environment, nearly 15,000 people from Long Thanh District's Binh Son, Suoi Trau, Cam Duong, Bau Can, Long An and Long Phuoc had to move to other places for the construction of Long Thanh Airport project. Most of them were of labour age and their incomes depended on agricultural and industrial production.

Total land used by individuals and families in the project's area amounts to 3,000ha, accounting for 60 per cent of land revoked for the project.

The Long Thanh international airport project was approved by the National Assembly in June this year. Once completed, the airport will be able to handle 100 million passengers and five million tonnes of cargo per year.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2018, and the airport is likely to become operational by 2025.

The total cost of the three-phase project is estimated to be VND336.63 trillion (US$15 billion). The project's funding is expected to come from the State budget, official development assistance, corporate investment and public-private partnerships, among other resources. —VNS