The Ho Chi Minh City–Trung Luong Highway project, linking HCMC’s outlying Binh Chanh District and Chau Thanh District in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, started in late 2004 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2007.

Construction of the 62-kilometer eight-lane highway is 80 percent complete but a shortfall of VND3.3 trillion (US$188 million) brought the project to a standstill in early March. The total cost of the project was estimated at VND9.98 trillion ($565 million). Even with the Finance Ministry’s cash injection, the project still needs an extra VND1.3 trillion ($74 million) to be completed.

Over the past two months, some 2,000 engineers and workers have had nothing to do but wait for the resumption of work on the highway, described as one of the country’s most delayed construction projects. The workers are receiving a reduced salary while they await the resumption of the project.

The project, overseen by the state-owned My Thuan Project Management Board, was once hailed as the first highway in Vietnam designed and built by Vietnamese engineers and workers.

The government allocated VND6.6 trillion ($376 million) to the project and, after construction started, called for investors to contribute to the project to ease the burden on the state budget. In return, investors would be able to collect tolls once the highway opened to traffic.