Wasted lands hinder Hanoi development

 

Hanoi (VNA) - Several construction projects in Hanoi have been delayed for years, wasting land and hindering the city’s land management process while other social security constructions remain in need of space.

Seven of the 28 constructions projects in Quoc Oai district are waiting to be implemented though they were approved for construction a long time ago, said Do Lai Luat, Vice Chairman of the district’s People’s Committee.

The situation does not only waste allocated lands but also complicates the land management process and land use litigation, hindering the socio-economic development of the district, Luat said.

Hoang Mai district faces the same situation. The district is in high need of new investment but has no space for them due to delayed projects, said Nguyen Duc Vinh, Secretary of the district’s Party Committee.

The area of land reserved for these projects had reached tens of thousands of metres, space that should be confiscated and put to other uses, he said.

Twelve projects named in the district’s list of land users had started construction bidding, but the bidding was progressing too slowly, he added.

Several transport projects in Gia Lam district are also stagnant. Provincial road No. 181, whose main investor is the Hanoi Department of Transport, is an example.

The stretch of the road that crosses the Kim Sơn commune has not been improved, though the construction was started in 2007. It is constantly flooded and causes traffic congestion during the rainy season.

The construction of a road that connects the Van Giang Dyke and the Van Duc ferry terminal in the district is also delayed, even though it has been approved with a total cost of 23.5 billion VND (1.041 million USD).

Apart from financial difficulties, one commonality among those projects is that their investors hold on to the allocated lands despite being incapable of completing the construction.

The delayed projects hinder the development of the localities. One district leader said it takes a lot of effort to prevent re-encroachment of lands and garbage dumping into the abandoned lands, while citizens constantly complain about the lands being wasted.

During his meeting with the Party Committee of Quoc Oai district, Hoang Trung Hai, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee, said that the district’s authorities and departments must approach the project’s investors instead of giving instructions from afar, working intimately to understand their situations and help them overcome obstacles.

“If the authorities have done everything in their power to support investors but the projects are still delayed, those projects must be withdrawn from the district’s master plan and new investors must be brought in,” he said.

Localities should be flexible in finding financial sources for infrastructure construction and not depend on the State’s limited budget, he said.

Similarly, the education sector cannot wait for the State’s budget to open more public schools, because that approach won’t be enough to meet the demands of citizens, he added.-VNA