In preparations for the city's 1000th anniversary, Hanoi has been working on many sidewalks, roadways and underground cable systems all over the city in part of its renovation plans. However, it has been two months since the sidewalks were dug up but not much has been done to improve their conditions, leaving Hanoi to look like a huge construction site and causing many people to feel frustrated at the sight.

A torn-up sidewalk section on Ton Duc Thang Road.

The routes currently being worked on that have received the highest number of complaints from people are Ton Duc Thang - Nguyen Luong Bang - Tay Son, Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Trieu, Pho Hue, Nguyen Van Cu and Phan Dinh Phung.

Hoa, from Nguyen Van Cu Road, Long Bien District said frustratedly, "My house faces the street where the sidewalk has been dug up. This has since severely affected my business and how we get in and out from the street. They just dug it up and then left it that way. It has been over a month now! The amount of work that needs to be done is a lot, but I have only seen a few workers work here everyday as if they are here just to kill time. In my opinion, they have to speed up the construction and finish one section before starting another otherwise, our lives will continue to be miserable."

Currently, 151 routes that are projects endorsed by 12 investors, are being dug up and repaired all over Hanoi by 20 construction teams. The plan is to renovate and improve the look of the city, but the construction is not making much progress.

Considerable amounts of mud, soil and waste were left from some route construction sites, of which covered many maintenance holes, thus adding some extra flood locations during the first season rainfall on May 15. Some other route construction sites, after doing their underground work, left many pipes lying across maintenance hole surface and drilled maintenance holes, violating the drainage system which has seriously affected the residential areas drainage.

In a discussion about this matter, a DTiNews reporter was able to talk to Thach Nhu Sy, Chief Inspector of Hanoi Transport Department, and he said, "This is a major project of the city to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Hanoi. The city authorities had demanded us to give permission to many construction teams however, it is extremely difficult to manage so many construction teams at once."

Sy added, "We have received many complaints from people that the progress is going very slowly and shoddily, which have placed significant impact on their daily life. We, as a management body of the State, have the responsibility to inspect, remind, supervise and speed up the progress of these projects. Recently, we suspended a few construction teams whose work was shoddy. However, other management bodies of the State such as the Department of Construction and People's Committees of many districts, are also responsible, and we suggest that these units reinforce their internal sanctions in order for the construction progress to be managed better."

It was reported that the underground work of these sidewalks is expected to be completed next month. However, with the current speed and situation, the finish date will have to be postponed until much later.

Below are some pictures that DTiNews has recently captured:

Canvas being stretched out to make a walkway.