NMPTCP – Detailed Design and Documentation: final workshop highlights stakeholders’ achievements and provides valuable lessons learnt
IN BRIEF
The long-awaited final workshop for the Northern Mountain Provinces Transport Connectivity Project (NMPTCP) – Detailed Design and Documentation (DDD) took place on 20 May, marking an important milestone for Aus4Transport. Despite countless challenges and obstacles during implementation, especially due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the design process of the NMPTCP is fully complete and construction contracts are now being awarded.
The final NMPTCP workshop involved the participation of representatives from different departments of the Ministry of Transport, such as the Transport Engineering Construction and Quality Management Bureau (TCQM), the Transport Safety Department, Project Management Unit No.2 (PMU2), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade at the Australian Embassy (DFAT), the DDD Consultant – SMEC International, and the Program Managing Contractor – DT Global.
The event was extremely meaningful for the Program, as it signified the culmination of many joint efforts, functioned as an evaluative process, and gave all related parties and stakeholders a chance to assess and look for insights derived from the design processes of both, the engineering and non-engineering components. The team’s discussions were fruitful and provided many lessons learnt to be considered for implementation in future Detail Design and Documentation activities.
KNOW MORE…
The Northern Mountain Provinces Transport Connectivity Project (NMPTCP) is an important development assistance project connecting the provinces of Lai Chau, Lao Cai and Yen Bai with the Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressway. It upgrades approximately 199km of National Highways and Provincial Roads with a total investment of VND 5,339 billion (USD 235 million). The NMPTCP is co-funded by loans from the Asian Development Bank (over USD 187 million), grant aid from the Australian Government (approx. USD 4.5 million for Detailed Design and Documentation), and the counterpart fund of the Government of Vietnam (more than USD 43 million). The Government of Australia is also contributing approx. USD 2 million in additional grant aid to fund the project’s non-engineering components. NMPTCP is a priority project for the Vietnamese Government and will play a crucial role in the improvement of local livelihoods in the northwest mountainous region, providing new opportunities for trade and better access to education and healthcare facilities for local communities.
Aus4Transport has been participating in the NMPTCP since 2019. Utilising Australian Government grant aid, the Program has been providing technical assistance for the development of the Detailed Design and Documentation (DDD) of 11 construction packages. At the same time, four activities covering the non-engineering components have been implemented in parallel through the Program’s Stream B as complementary components to the DDD: Design and Implementation of an Axle Load Control Program (ALCP), Design and Implementation of a Road Safety Awareness Campaign (RSAC), the Preparation of a Replacement Afforestation Plan and Public Awareness Campaign on Forest Protection (RAP-PACOFP), and the implementation of a HIV/AIDS and Human Trafficking Awareness Program (HHTAP). Overall, Aus4Transport’s work has ensured that all important engineering, non-engineering, social and environmental safeguard elements were considered and included in the design and implementation plans of the Project.
This final workshop highlighted important aspects from the design process, focusing on the scope of work, implementation schedule, financing plan, process of engineering components and surveys, process of non-engineering components, consultant’s resources, delays, and lessons learnt. All delegates had the opportunity to share their own experience and explain difficulties and obstacles that had led to the delays on some of the packages. More importantly, all related parties discussed and agreed on useful lessons learnt and provided recommendations that can be considered to enhance DDD works on future projects.
As the Project involves 3 provinces, 7 districts and 30 communes, its potential impact on natural and human resources is significant. Construction work is expected to acquire 391 hectares of land, affecting over 6,000 households, 80% of whom are already considered highly vulnerable to the impacts of land acquisition, as they will potentially lose a considerable amount of their productive land. In the case of 356 households, they will need to be relocated. It has been planned, as part of the DDD, that, in addition to compensation for their assets, these households will be provided with support to restore their livelihoods. The activity will have an overall impact on the livelihood of more than 150,000 people belonging to ethnic groups, who account for around 70% of the total population within the project area. These figures demonstrate the complexity of the project and confirm how imperative it was to conduct comprehensive socio-economic surveys and devise impact mitigation strategies across multiple dimensions, far beyond the technical aspects of the road design.
As an ADB funded project, the NMPTCP is required to meet ADB’s safeguarding requirements. Aus4Transport has been responsible to ensure that appropriate consideration is given to all issues related to environmental protection, involuntary resettlement, indigenous peoples, and gender equality and social inclusion. Specifically, the Program has supported MOT to update the Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan, along with the preparation of a Resettlement Plan and Ethnic Minority Development Plan for each civil works package. Gender equality and social inclusion plans were developed for the Project as a whole, and for construction contractors more specifically. The development of these plans has involved an iterative process with stakeholders, whereby they were continuously integrated in all activities from the beginning of design process, ensuring that local communities were included and consulted. Aus4Transport has also overseen the design and soon implementation of awareness campaigns on road safety and HIV/AIDs and Human trafficking, and an axle load control program.
As presented in the workshop, Aus4Transport’s task in the NMPTCP has been extensive, and all stakeholders involved expressed their satisfaction to have the DDD phase completed and showed their readiness to move on to the next stage of implementation. The Program is proud to contribute to such an important project, supporting the Government of Vietnam in its efforts to foster sustainable socio-economic development and alleviate poverty across the country.
