Former deputy minister of transport and individuals involving in the recent scandal involving JTC have showed surprise upon hearing the details of the bribery case.
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| Former deputy minister of transport, Le Manh Hung |
Former deputy minister of transport, Le Manh Hung, who managed the major railway lines in Vietnam from 2008 to 2013, along with nine other officials, have been asked to submit explanations about individuals responsibilities in the case.
He said, "I was shocked, and wondered when they could have colluded with each other because, during the whole time the Hanoi Urban Railway project was carried out, I haven't heard anything about misconduct. I believe that we'll have more information after the deputy minister of transport, Nguyen Ngoc Dong, works with Japanese authorities and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)."
According to Hung, the Hanoi Urban Railway project has been heavily invested in, and is in de facto control of Vietnam Railways. Hung said that the ministry only manages administrative procedures. Heads from the Ministry of Transport cannot unilaterally propose new ideas for their own projects, but can only receive and review proposals from its departments and agencies as to how responsibilities should be assigned.
Nguyen Tien Cong, Vice Director of Transport Investment and Construction Consultant JSC (Tricc), said they have worked with Japan Transportation Consultants, Inc. (JTC) since 1992 and for most of JTC's project in Vietnam. However, they also claimed to the allegations.
"JTC is a foreign firm, so they need to partner up with a local ones to understand more about the way of working in this country. This case has had a bad impact on our company. Many joint venture projects between us and JTC have been halted," Cong said.
Nguyen Thanh Tinh, former vice director of Tricc, said that JTC had not joined the project when Tricc researched about the feasibility of Hanoi Urban Railway Route 1. JTC only started to bid after the Ministry of Transport approved the project. Tricc was invited to cooperate with them after JTC had won the contract.
