The Ministry of Construction (MoC) has given warning to companies that have been slow in disbursing funds for public investment projects.

 The National Museum of History project

In 2012, the MoC received VND1.821 trillion (USD86 million) from state budget for development projects. The money was provided for 23 projects in which the MoC are investors in five projects with investment of VND1.650 trillion.

The MoC reported as of November 30, only VND735.172 billion has been disbursed, with several key projects still lagging on their disbursement.

For example, VND150 billion was supposed to be invested in the construction of National University campus in Hoa Lac urban area, Hanoi in 2012 but the companies had only spent VND18 billion.

The National Museum of History had planned investment for 2012 of VND30 billion but only VND3.4 billion was spent.

The National Assembly House project also showed signs of slow disbursement. It was supposed to receive VND1.376 trillion of investment in 2012 but had only utilised VND694 billion.

The main reasons for such slow rates of disbursement were sluggish bidding processes. The contractors and consultants also took long time in solving administrative problems.

Two months ago, the MoC urged the investors to quicken the process and requested monthly reports on their work.

The ministry agreed to disburse all of the allocated money for their five projects in 2012. The MoC warned construction companies that they would not be given more investment for the coming year and would face punishment if they failed to disburse their funds and report on their progress.