HCM City asked to reduce traffic jams ahead of Tet
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged authorities of Ho Chi Minh City to devise immediate and long-term solutions to the worsening traffic congestion in the city, especially during the upcoming Lunar New Year festival.
PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the teleconference (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) –Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged authorities of Ho Chi Minh City to deviseimmediate and long-term solutions to the worsening traffic congestion in thecity, especially during the upcoming Lunar New Year festival.
During a teleconference withrepresentatives from the municipal authorities on January 23, the PM asked for moreefforts to speed up infrastructure projects.
According to HCM City officials, traffic congestions occur in many areas acrossthe city, seriously affecting locals’ daily activities.
In 2016, the city had 37 traffic jam hotspots, especially in roads to the TanSon Nhat International Airport, the Cat Lai port, the city centre, and routesfrom outskirts to the inner city. The city needs 38.3 trillion VND (nearly 1.7 billion USD) for urgent projectsto reduce traffic jams in 2017, and about 323.9 trillion VND in the 2016-2020period.
The city asked the Government to permit the municipal authorities to call fortenders for a number of projects under the programme to reduce traffic jams andaccidents in 2016-2020.
Representatives from ministries and sectors to the conference proposed a widerange of solutions to the issue, suggesting applying information technology intraffic management and developing underground transport.
The municipal authorities were requested to strictly implement Directive 18 ofthe Party Central Committee’s Secretariat on enhancing the Party'sleadership for ensuring road, railway and domestic water way traffic order and safety and addressing traffic congestion.
Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung attributed the trafficcongestion in HCM City to higher population growth than infrastructure developmentspeed, saying that Vietnam should learn from international experience indeveloping transport infrastructure in order to effectively tackle the issue.
Regarding long-term measures, PM Phuc asked the city to makegood urban planning, limit the construction of high buildings, reduce means oftransport, and promote public transport systems.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment was assigned to early outline a plan onunderground transport in HCM City and submit to the Government for approval.
The PM also required the Ministry of Public Security to coordinate with themunicipal People’s Committee to reorganise the traffic regulating system, runcampaigns to raise public awareness of traffic culture and safety, and increasepenalties for traffic violations
The city must limitimmigrants to the city downtown through the building of satellite urban areasand collect fees on cars running in the centre of the city to reduce the numberof vehicles, he added.-VNA
The capacity of Tan Son Nhat International Airport will double as many projects to expand it and ease traffic congestion have been announced, a high ranking official said.
HCM City has recently called for private investment under the public-private partnership (PPP) model to kick off several key transport infrastructure projects under in the context of a limited State budget amid increasing transport demand.
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PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the teleconference (Source: VNA) 
