The Prime Minister recently asked to stop construction of the Ke Ga Port, in Ham Thuan Nam district, Binh Thuan province in central Vietnam. In fact, when the project was introduced by the Vietnam Coal and Mineral Group (Vinacomin) a couple of years ago, many experts did not support it.

Ke Ga port is designed to serve the transportation of alumina of Tan Rai and Nhan Co bauxite processing factories. This project was approved by the government in 2009.

A project that was ceased to give land to the Ke Ga Port.

According to the approved plan, the port is built in Tan Thanh commune, Ham Thuan Nam district, Binh Thuan province, with a total area of about 366 hectares of both land and water area from Vietnam travel guide.

The construction is divided into four stages, with the handling capacity of 3.5 million tons of alumina per year after two years of construction and 35 million tons per year in 2020. The total investment is estimated at more than VND20 trillion (over $1 billion).

According to the project investor – Vinacomin, "The Ke Ga Port will help shorten the road, reduce freight costs of aluminum projects in particular and create a foundation for economic growth for the Central Highlands and the South Central region."

But Vinacomin has unexpectedly announced to cancel this project, reasoning that the output of alumina of the Tan Rai and Nhan Co bauxite factories is low so it is unnecessary to build the deep water port of Ke Ga.

A Vinacomin’s senior official said that the alumina output of Tan Rai and Nhan Co pants is only about 600,000 tons per year, while the handling capacity of the Ke Ga Port is up to 35 million tons.

He added that alumina will be transported via the Go Dau Port in Dong Nai. In addition, Binh Thuan is building the Vinh Tan port as an alternative.

Vinacomin said project investment costs were not large because Ke Ga Port has not been started. "Ke Ga Port project just stops at the pre-feasibility study so the cost is modest," the official said.

Big waste

To implement this project, Binh Thuan authorities has decided to revoke land of and cancel 12 tourism projects within the port boundaries.

In addition, a company hired 14ha of land in Ham Thuan Nam district to build an ICD warehouse worth over VND260 billion ($13 million) to serve the port.

The Binh Thuan authorities also developed the Ke Ga Industrial Park project on 422ha. The project was licensed to Rang Dong Group. On February 20, Rang Dong Group’s officials said that two months ago, this firm withdrew from this project because they realized that it is ineffective.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thu, former Vice Chair of Binh Thuan province, said that, who spent nearly five years following Vinacomin’s Ke Ga Port project, said in the past few years, Binh Thuan has lost too many opportunities because of looking forward to this seaport project.

Vietnamnet