The Vietnam Automobile Association has proposed to carry out an inspection into all BOT projects after discovering that investor in the Phap Van-Cau Gie Expressway lied about their revenue.
A toll booth on Phap Van-Cau Gie Expressway
On July 24, the inspection team of the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam announced that after monitoring the two toll booths on Phap Van-Cau Gie Expressway from July 10 to 20, the total registered revenue is over VND17.5bn, or an average of VND1.7bn (USD77,200) a day. This number is higher than the submitted revenue of VND1.2bn a day by the investor Civil Engineering Construction Corporation 1 JSC.
Bui Danh Lien, head of Hanoi Automobile Association said the disparity between the submitted reports and reality was too high and wondered what the money had been used for. He said it was time to hire independent agency. If cases like this go on unnoticed then the charging period will be longer than it should be, badly affecting the drivers.
"We want another reputable supervising unit, independent from the investor Cienco 1 and Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, to give us accurate information," he said. "An independent supervising unit then reliable auditing unit must also participate. There are many ambiguous BOT projects in Vietnam."
Nguyen Van Thanh, president of Vietnam Automobile Association said BOT projects had been scrutinised recently due to lack of transparency such as how high the tolls are and how long will drivers be charged? Who and how is the money managed? If those information are not publicised then nobody will know when the charging period will end, he said.
"It's time we carry out a thorough inspection on BOT projects including permits, construction quality, charging technology," he said.
There are various types of BOT projects. However, even if it's a project to build completely new road or to upgrade one, they all have the same toll and charging period. A renovation or upgraded project is normally invested by multiple small firms who find huge profits from BOT projects.
Bui Danh Lien said BOT projects were being multiplied at fast rate but with no clear management or direction.
"Every road is being divided up into BOT projects under weak management. Lots of agencies issue permits and supervise but actually, their responsibilities overlap with each other and their work is inefficient. Lack of transparency about the tolls also causes public concern," he said.
Nguyen Van Thanh also raised concerned about the distance between the toll booths and why investment in BOT projects is consistently higher in Vietnam than in almost every other country.
