Drivers block toll booth in fees protest

Drivers in Can Tho city parked their cars on January 5 at Can Tho-Phung Hiep build, operate and transfer toll booth in protest against unreasonable fees.

Drivers in Can Tho city parked their cars on January 5 at Can Tho-Phung Hiep build, operate and transfer toll booth in protest against unreasonable fees.

 

Drivers in Can Tho city parked their cars at Can Tho-Phung Hiep toll booth on January 5

Since 8.50 am, three trucks from Can Tho to Hau Giang Province stopped and parked at the toll booth, preventing other vehicles from going through. The trucks were later allowed to go. At 10 am, other drivers blocked the toll booth, causing congestion for kilometres.

A local man, Tran Van Hung said his house was near the booth but he had to pay VND180,000 every day in order to go home. There are other drivers also blocked the booth to protest, saying that they would not move their vehicles unless the fees were reduced. Others protested by paying with small changes or getting out and pushed the cars through.

Tran Phuoc Thanh, a manager at a driving centre that is only 200 metres away from the toll booth, said they had a total 73 cars. "I only want to exempt the fees for 32 cars that use the road daily and we'll pay for the rest. But the request was denied," he said.

Thanh said they had had a meeting with the toll booth managers on January 2 but they were unable to reach agreement. A driver said he was upset because he only used 200 metres of the 30km road but had to pay full VND30,000.

 

Drivers blocked the toll booth and caused congestion for kilometres 

Can Tho City People's Committee Chairman Vo Thanh Thong said the Department of Transport and Department of Public Security were working with both locals and firms to deal with the problem.

The project to expand National Highway 1's Can Tho - Phung Hiep section by 22km has a total investment of over VND1.8trn (USD79.2m) and was completed in 2015. The toll booth started collecting a fee from VND35,000 to VND200,000 since April, 2016.

In last December, the fees were reduced by 7-15%. However, the locals said the fees were still too high.