Gov’t Inspectorate issues report on Thu Thiem urban area

Hanoi (VNA) - The Government Inspectorate has delivered its report on the controversial implementation of the master plan and land and construction management at the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in Ho Chi Minh City’s district 2.

It said 99 percent of the land had been cleared and compensation payments and resettlement of local people had conformed to laws and regulations.

Contracts, mainly in build–transfer (BT) form, had been signed with the investors of a number of projects, including construction of the four main roads and the Thu Thiem Bridge No 2, development of infrastructure for the residential area in the northern part and construction of the section of the North-South Road from Thu Thiem Bridge to Mai Chi Tho Street.

However, there had been shortcomings and violations on the part of the city People’s Committee and other relevant agencies during the investment and development processes, which had led to long-standing complaints from people having their land appropriated.

Construction regulations for the Thu Thiem New Urban Area were incomplete and what there were had not been issued in time, and projects had not been submitted to the Government in the order of priority set by it.

These violations had resulted in plans for and investment in sketchy projects, which were delayed and not well managed.

The city authorities’ proposal to fix the price of land at 26 million VND for one square metre was “inappropriate”.

The HCM City People’s Committee had failed to implement the Government’s instructions, and its leaders would need to be held responsible.

However, other relevant agencies such as the Departments of Planning and Investment, Finance, Natural Resources and Environment, and Construction, and the management board of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area also had to be held accountable.

There was an “investment imbalance” of 8,734 billion VND (375 million USD) in the development of the project.

The Inspector General has recommended that the Government should instruct HCM City to return the money it had provided as advances last September for developing the Thu Thiem New Urban Area of over 26.31 trillion VND (1.12 billion USD).

The report called for drafting plans to use the remaining land in Thu Thiem and to recalculate the prices of lands handed over to buyers to ensure the state coffers do not suffer a loss, and for “balancing investments.”

The Government Inspectorate said ff the economic violations that result in losses to the State asset are not resolved completely prior to December 31, the Government’s top watchdog said it would forward necessary documents to the investigative agencies to review the case in line with the law.-VNA