HCM City (VNS/VNA)- Tet is a precious time of the year forfamily reunions, but dozens of construction workers on Trung Luong-MyThuan Expressway will be missing out this year.

They will be spending the LunarNew Year on the road next to bulldozers and concrete mixers to completethe decade-long wish of millions of Mekong Delta residents – tocomplete the expressway this year.

48-year-old Phan Hoa Hiep wastrying to fix a bulldozer that broke down just hours before the afternoonhe was scheduled to flatten the ground for the Than Cuu Nghia section of theexpressway.

Standing next to the hugemachine under the scorching sun, he looked up at the crowded, noisy linesof motorbikes and cars on the adjacent HCM City-Trung Luong Expressway carryingmillions of migrants from HCM City to their hometowns for Tet.

“I'm going to work for a fewmore days and then go home to burn incense for my last mother and father. Justone day off and than I'll be back at work,” Hiep told Tuoi Tre (Youth)newspaper.

“I will be on standby all thetime, so if there is an emergency and someone needs a day off, I will gostraight to work. My house is close anyway”.

Hiep is a professionalbulldozer operator and has been doing the job across the country for morethan 10 years. But this is the first time he has worked on such amassive project which he first heard about when he was a rookie driver.

The 51km Trung Luong-My ThuanExpressway is a key national infrastructure project connecting HCMCity with the underdeveloped southwest region. Investment for the projectis expected to cost more than 12.6 trillion VND (536.1 million USD).Construction of the expressway first started in November 2009 but has been onand off for the last decade mainly due to capital shortages.

Hiep is proud to be working onthe last sections of the road.

“Even if I have to sacrificemy Tet holiday to be at the construction site ofa project that dozens of millions of western folks are looking forward to,I’m very willing to do so,” he said.

But not all workers live asclose as Hiep.

Nguyen Quoc Dat said thathis hometown was in the north central region where winter was cold and wetinstead of sunny like in the south.

“My heart is restless as I missthe cold breeze, the spring drizzles, and spending nights with friends by theboiling chung pot,” he said.

“I really wanted to goback to my family this Tet, but everyone (at the site) has agreedand cheered each other up to work on the mission to finish the road in2020.”

While Dat will be spendinghis first Tet away from home, guard Le Phu Thieu is used to welcomingthe new year with colleagues rather than family and friends.

69-year-old Thieu said he hadnot returned home for Tet for the last four years because of hisjob – which was to look after the warehouse and machinery.

“I miss my wife and children,and my nephews and nieces. But I’m old enough and it’s fine to stay herefor another Tet so that other workers who haveyoung children can go home,” he said.

“If I leave everything here andgo home, then something could get lost which might slow down theproject. I would feel so guilty and wouldn't be able to face thefolks here.”/.