Court orders Chinese, Korean contractors to compensate for poor-quality Vietnam expressway

Five contractors from China, South Korea and Vietnam were ordered by court on Friday to pay VND460 billion (US$18.7 million) in compensation for delivering an expressway that did not meet quality standards.

The money is to be paid to Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) under the Transport Ministry regarding the Da Nang – Quang Ngai Expressway project in central Vietnam.

The two Chinese contractors Shandong Province Traffic Works Corporation has to pay VND129 billion and Jiangsu Province Construction Corporation VND85 billion, while the two Korean contractors Lotte E&C has to pay VND127 billion and Posco E&C VND71 billion, the Hanoi People’s Court said after 12-day trial.

CC1, the Vietnamese contractor, was ordered to pay VND47.5 billion.

The court also handed up to 6-year jail terms to 22 people, including 11 former VEC leaders, for violations in the construction of the expressway.

Tran Van Tam, former general director of VEC, received five and a half years for construction violations and negligence.

Mai Tuan Anh, another former VEC general director, received 42 months for irresponsibility causing serious consequences.

The Da Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway is a key infrastructure work whose construction began in 2013 and was completed in 2018 at a cost of VND34.5 trillion ($1.4 billion), with the money coming from loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the World Bank and counterpart funds from the government.

Complaints about the construction quality first surfaced in 2018 when it developed cracks and potholes just a month after opening following a heavy downpour. They were hundreds of centimeters in size and 5-10 cm deep.

The trial closing on Friday was the second over the poor quality of the expressway, handling violations on its second phase of more than 72 km, which were deemed to cause damage worth VND460 billion.

Another trial was held in December 2021 regarding violations on the first phase of the project, that spans 65 km, causing damage worth VND811 billion. Two senior officials at VEC received six and seven years at this trial for construction violations while 34 others received between two years suspended sentences and eight and a half years in jail.

By Thanh Lam – VnExpress.net – October 27, 2023