(Construction) - For many years now, every year, the Government has issued documents and conferences to urge ministries, branches, provincial People's Committees and investors to disburse public investment capital. But this situation continues to stagnate, although many ministries and branches have proposed measures to overcome this situation, especially the Ministry of Planning and Investment, which is the lead agency in proposing the National Assembly. , the Government approved the plan to provide public investment capital for the implementation of investment projects as proposed by ministries, sectors and provincial People's Committees, but the situation has not been resolved effectively. So, what is the cause, the responsibility belongs to which organization or individual?
Disbursement of public investment capital in the first 4 months of 2023 is estimated at 14.66% of the plan.
According to the report of the Ministry of Finance, the estimated disbursement rate in the first 4 months of the plan in 2023 reached 14.66% of the plan (source of the Government Portal). Compared to the plan assigned by the Prime Minister, the disbursement rate reached 15.65%, lower than the same period in 2022 (18.48%). Faced with this situation, the Ministry of Finance has established working groups to urge disbursement at ministries, branches and localities, and has made recommendations to solve problems in disbursement of public investment capital. Prime Minister, Ministry of Planning and Investment. Will the above problems be solved?
According to the Youth Newspaper on 11/5/2023, Mr. Phan Van Mai - Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, shared about the information that: In 2022, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City sent 584 documents opinion form of the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Also according to Mr. Phan Van Mai, on April 16, 2023 when the Prime Minister's Delegation worked with the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City. Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung talked about the local sending 584 documents to consult and the Ministry of Planning and Investment had 604 responses. This is related to the situation that administrative agencies, civil servants and public employees of Ho Chi Minh City do not dare to do, leading to stagnation.
According to Mr. Phan Van Mai, after receiving feedback, the locality has directed the analysis of documents to ask for opinions and can be divided into 4 groups to ask for opinions: Group 1 - is the current situation of Ho Chi Minh City. Minh arises but the law has not yet, so it is necessary to seek advice on how to handle it. Group 2 - are issues with regulations but there are differences between one law and another, so they must be asked to reach a consensus. Group 3- is already regulated but the interpretation is different. And group 4, there are regulations, but the research still has many uncertain points, so it has to be asked.
We think that: 4 points of analysis that the Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee stated are absolutely correct, in fact the legal system is problematic. It is the problems of the four groups mentioned above that have hindered many areas of operation, especially the activities of investors and investors, including the disbursement of public investment capital.
The law clearly stipulates that ministries are government agencies with many functions and tasks, but the main function and task is to draft legal documents to submit to the National Assembly and competent authorities for approval. new implementation, amendment and adjustment of laws and sub-law documents, in order to bring the provisions of the law into life. At the same time, is to popularize, propagate and educate the law so that the law comes to life. Along with examining the law enforcement to detect inadequacies and shortcomings of the law to propose to the competent authorities or amend and supplement according to their competence.
If the above issues are well done, then surely the situation like at the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, other localities will not have to issue too many documents to ask ministries and branches. Thus, the responsibility belongs to which agency is clear. In the disbursement of public investment capital, according to the proposal of the Ministry of Finance and the opinion of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, which ministry will be responsible for this issue?
Take a specific issue in Thai Nguyen province to better understand the complicated issues in administrative procedures and cause bottlenecks for the disbursement of construction investment capital.
According to the document of Thai Nguyen Provincial People's Committee to the Prime Minister with the main content: Currently, in Thai Nguyen province, there are 3 projects implemented in the form of public-private partnership (TPPP) - BT contract. Specifically, Bac Son road construction investment project extends from km0+00 to km3+500 (intersection of To Huu street); Bac Son road construction investment project extending from km3+500 (To Huu intersection) to km9+500; Road project connecting Minh Cau street to TNG social housing project.
With the expected payment method is the cleared land fund, the payment contents have been clearly specified and there are legal documents to ensure compliance with the provisions of law at the time of signing the BT contract.
The reason why Thai Nguyen Provincial People's Committee has not been able to pay investors is due to some problems in Clause 2, Article 19 and Clause 3, Article 1 of Decree No. 69/2019/ND-CP dated August 15, 2019 of the Government. The Government (before the effective date of Decree No. 35/2021/ND-CP dated March 29, 2021 of the Government) without guidance from the Ministry of Planning and Investment. On the other hand, at Point i, Clause 2, Article 118 of the 2013 Land Law, it was stated that: The State allocates land without auctioning land use rights in other cases prescribed by the Government, nor has specific instructions for this issue. with the cases of the 3 projects mentioned above.
Thai Nguyen Provincial People's Committee proposed to the Prime Minister for permission: Allow Thai Nguyen province to use the cleared land fund to pay investors for the three projects mentioned above. At the same time, the form of payment to investors is to make land allocation by the State without auction of land use rights within the competence of the Prime Minister as permitted under the provisions of Point i, Clause 2, Article 118 of the Land Law. 2013.
In Document No. 4816/VPCP-CN dated July 17, 2021, the Ministry of Justice said that: According to the above provisions, the use of the land fund has been cleared by the State to pay investors for the land. for BT projects where the BT contract is signed in accordance with the law at the time of signing the BT contract from January 1, 2018 to before January 1, 2019, must report to the Prime Minister for consideration. , decision. Therefore, the People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province to report to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision on the use of the cleared land fund to pay investors for the 3 projects mentioned above is in accordance with its authority.
Thus, the problem here is because the Law on Investment 2020 stipulates that in case a BT contract is paid with a cleared land fund, it must be approved by the Prime Minister and answered like the Ministry of Justice. proper authority and responsibility. In addition to consulting the Ministry of Justice, the Government Office also sent official dispatches to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Transport. Such a question is the responsibility of the ministries and branches to answer to the Government according to their specialized management functions, to clarify whether the signing of BT contracts of the three projects mentioned above is legal or not. Is such payment in accordance with the law, so that the Prime Minister allows the use of cleared land for payment or non-payment of the BT contract.
There is a complication here, from 2020, then to 2021, to 2022 and to 2023, the same problem mentioned above that Thai Nguyen Provincial People's Committee has 4 times reported in writing to ask for opinions. On the advice of the Prime Minister, the Government Office also issued documents asking the above ministries and branches four times. In total, there are nearly 30 documents from ministries, branches and People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province to answer this issue. Also in the document signed by a Deputy Chairman of the Government Office, sometimes assigned to the Ministry of Finance to assume the prime responsibility for summarizing and reporting to the Prime Minister (Document No. 6394/VPCP-CN dated August 5, 2020); sometimes assign the Ministry of Planning and Investment to assume the prime responsibility for summarizing and reporting to the Prime Minister (Document 7353/VPCP-CN dated 11/10/2021).
What needs to know to handle at the request of Thai Nguyen Provincial People's Committee is whether the signing of the above 3 BT contracts is legal or not? If true, the Prime Minister will agree to use the cleared land fund for payment according to its competence and according to the provisions of law.
In 2022, the Government Office assigns the Ministry of Planning and Investment to preside over and review the three BT contracts mentioned above to respond to the Prime Minister. On May 6, 2022, the Ministry of Planning and Investment issued Document No. 2963/BKHĐT-QNDT on the review of 3 BT contract projects in Thai Nguyen province. In this document, the Ministry of Planning and Investment made a proposal to the Prime Minister, which determined: "Based on the opinions of the ministries and the review results, the Ministry of Planning and Investment finds that, although there are still existing problems, the Ministry of Planning and Investment still exists. There are some shortcomings, but in terms of order and procedures, all three projects have basically been implemented in compliance with the provisions of Decree No. 15/2015/ND-CP and Decree No. 30/2015/ND-CP. . At the same time, it is recommended that the Prime Minister assign the People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province to take full responsibility for the process of project preparation, investor selection, negotiation, contract signing and inspection and supervision of the implementation of contracts. in accordance with the provisions of law and some other recommendations in the implementation of progress and quality of projects, payment in accordance with the law...
Thus, the responses of the ministries and the Ministry of Planning and Investment have answered two questions: The signing of BT contracts for the three projects mentioned above has complied with the provisions of law. . The application for the Prime Minister to use the cleared land fund to pay for the BT contract is within the authorized competence of the Prime Minister.
However, in 2023, Thai Nguyen Provincial People's Committee continued to explain the problems in the implementation of the three BT projects mentioned above. At the same time, the Government Office on April 27, 2023 again issued Official Letter No. 2945/VPCP-CN with the same content as the documents for 2020, 2021, 2022, and again assigned to the Ministry of Planning and Lead Investment. But this document only requires that in addition to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment study the documents of the People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province for the Ministry of Planning and Investment to summarize and report to the Prime Minister. Government.
Although the project has not been tested and handed over, the traffic is busy.
Currently, all three BT projects mentioned above have not been tested and handed over and have not been paid for, but these roads have been put into use by people and traffic is busy. Due to a lack of capital, the investor has not completed a number of technical issues such as: building embankments to prevent landslides in some locations, clearing the drainage system, sidewalks in some sections of the road and a number of other technical factors to ensure safety. acceptance test and put into use. If some of the above technical problems are not completed in time, the coming rainy season will easily affect the quality of the road.
With the above 3 projects, the investor has spent thousands of billions of dong to implement the signed contract, but so far the investor has not received the funding. Therefore, investors have to mobilize and borrow from banks to perform the contract. If this situation lasts, the "bankruptcy" of an enterprise is very likely. I don't know when the Government Office will still consult the ministries and branches and when will it be submitted to the Prime Minister to solve the problems proposed by the People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province?
Recently, the Prime Minister has called for and encouraged those who dare to think, dare to do, and reform administrative procedures to create favorable conditions for businesses and people. We believe that this must also be done at the highest agency of the Government, such as the Government Office and central ministries and branches.
Tien Hao – Duy Nguyen
