Hanoi Detects Wrongdoings worth Billions of VND in Upgrade of Four Hospitals

The Hanoi Department of Construction has inspected hospitals in the city, uncovering wrongdoings at four local hospitals in weight miscalculations, incorrect unit prices, and wrong payment appraisal worth billions of dong, the Tien Phong newspaper reported July 28. The projects include the upgrade of Saint Paul General Hospital and construction for an internal medicine ward, which were estimated to cost nearly VND84 billion ($3.84 million) with over VND25 billion to be used for equipment purchase. Inspectors found that miscalculations of construction materials and incorrect application of unit prices have raised the package value to over VND305 million, in addition to another miscalculation of nearly VND235 million in project appraisal. The same mistakes were found in the upgrades and expansions of Duc Giang hospital, Dong Anh district hospital, Ba Vi district general hospital, raising the total construction package value to respectively VND3.6 billion, VND2 billion, and VND1.2 billion. The initial costs for these projects were not fully disclosed. The inaccurate calculations are common in Vietnam where corruption could be found in virtually every public-invested projects. Vietnam’s Government Inspectorate (GI) said that it unveiled VND11.29 trillion ($518 million) and 656 hectares of land that were misused by state agencies in the first half of this year. (tienphong.vn July 28)