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Transporters criticize plan to increase tolls

Transporters criticize plan to increase tolls

Thursday, January 03, 2013, 11:57 GMT+7

Since the Prime Minister agreed to the Transport Ministry’s plan to raise traffic fees on National Highways 1 and 14 by 3.5 times from the current rates by 2016, many transporters Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces have sent comments on the issue to Tuoi Tre. Thai Van Chung, general secretary of the HCMC Goods Transport Association, said transport companies are facing many difficulties, with the cost of traffic fees now accounting for 10-19 percent of the transport charges applied to customers. Therefore, the Ministries of Finance and Transport should consider reducing tolls instead of hiking them. A plan to raise tolls by 3.5 times by 2016 will drive many transporters into hardship. Ta Quang Huyen, director of Hoang Son 1 Co Ltd in southern Binh Phuoc Province, said, “We transport about 100 containers of goods every month. If the traffic fee on 18-ton trucks is raised to VND280,000 from VND80,000, how can we earn enough profit to make up for such a dramatically increased cost?" In addition, the bad condition of National Highway 14 has recently pushed up the cost of repairing vehicles, Huyen complained. Such a toll increase would become serious burden on transport businesses, said Nguyen Cong Dinh, chairman of the HCMC Inter-Provincial and Tourism Bus Association. The increase will undermine the competitive edge of domestic transporters compared with their counterparts in other countries in Southeast Asia. Therefore, competent agencies should review the plan, Dinh said. Nguyen Xuan Thien, chairman of the Thong Nhat Transport Cooperative in Trang Bom District, Dong Nai Province, said, “Nobody can agree with the Transport Ministry’s explanation about why the toll should be increased by 3.5 times. “More than 200 of our cooperative’s buses are serving workers and students, and we would have to charge them more money. Eventually, it is workers and students who will suffer from the higher tolls, Thien warned.

Ta Quang Khanh, chairman of the Bu Dang Passenger Transport Cooperative in Binh Phuoc province, said that many transporters have had to offer to sell their vehicles since they can no longer suffer losses due to higher costs and fiercer competition. Therefore, if traffic tolls are increased by 3.5 times in the future, it is certain that more transport businesses will have to shut down, Khanh forecast.

Meanwhile, the project to upgrade a 75 km section of National Highway 14 that runs through Binh Phuoc Province was started in May 2010 and is scheduled to be completed in May 2013, but work on the section has yet to be finished, an official at the provincial Transport Department told Tuoi Tre.

The project has been developed in BOT mode with a total investment of VND1,481 billion (US$71 million).

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