According to the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam (VRA), by late April this year, Vietnam had 154 roads with a total length of 24,600 kilometres. Among those, 16,320 kilometres needed to be upgraded, but limited budget means this hasn’t been done.
Up to more than 16,000 kilometres of road in Vietnam have become severely deteriorated
The Road Maintenance Fund was put into operation in 2013, but has only funded work on 34.81% of roads in need of upgrading and repair.
Head of VRA Nguyen Van Huyen said that the rapid increase in vehicle numbers along with the unfavourable weather conditions has worsened the roads, particularly those in mountainous areas.
In October last year, a section of National Highway 6 were up to two metres under water, Huyen said, noting this such cases required huge spending on the post-flooding roadworks.
The VRA has submitted a project on defining investment required for national highway maintenance by 2030 to the Ministry of Transport. The country would need some VND300 trillion (USD13.6 billion) between 2019 and 2030.
Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The urged VRA to learn road maintenance experiences from regional countries.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho suggested increasing finance for the Road Maintenance Fund which now mostly depends on road maintenance fee collection and the state budget. According to Tho, localities should work to use part of their budget for the fund.
Earlier Transport Minister Nguyen Van The said that he is unsatisfied with most roads in Vietnam he has travelled on. He urged the quick upgrade of roads which have deteriorated.