$616.7 million Cocobay complex, home to Cocobay Towers where football legend Cristiano Ronaldo registered to buy a condotel, is the latest name on the list of projects without a construction permit in the central city of Danang.

Cocobay is the latest project violating construction regulations in Danang. Photo: vietnamnet.vn

The Danang Department of Construction (DoC) has just issued Decision No.18/QD-XPVPHC to penalise Thanh Do Investment Development and Construction JSC, now known as Empire Group, the developer of the VND14 trillion ($616.7 million) Cocobay Danang in Ngu Hanh Son district due to purposely constructing elements that were not included in the construction permit, according to vietnamnet.vn.

According to the decision, the developer will be fined for VND40 million for illegal constructing Cocobay Danang complex’s Coco Entertainment Centre.

At the time the local authorities discovered the violation, the basement and first floor of the basement had been completed.

Huynh Cu, Deputy Chairman of the Ngu Hanh Son People’s Committee, stated that in addition to the VND40-million fine, the developer will have to stop the construction of the entertainment centre and submit its building permit within 60 days. In case the unit is missing from the planning permission, the developer will have to remove it.

Vu Quang Hung, director of the Danang DoC, revealed that the complex’s Hoang Gia residential area has not received a building permit. The Ministry of Construction inspectors and Danang authorities imposed an administrative fine and ordered a temporary halt to the construction.

Illegal construction is nothing new in Danang as the coastal city is fast becoming a major tourist attraction, leading to the rise of hotels and resorts both legally and illegally in the area.

Since 2017, real estate developers, including Thanh Do Investment Development and Construction JSC, Dien Bien No.1 Construction Private Enterprise (the developer of Muong Thanh hotel and high-end apartment building), Song Viet Tourism Development JSC (the developer of The Song resort located at My Khe beach), and Ly Bang Service and Trade Co., Ltd. (the developer of 7 Seven Sea Hotel), have been fined for illegal construction in the city.

Specifically, Dien Bien No.1 Construction Private Enterprise was fined for VND40 million for deliberately adding 104 apartments to the Muong Thanh project, in clear violation of the approved constructed design.

At the end of 2017, local authorities detected that The Song Resort encroached on public land. According to the Ngu Hanh Son People’s Committee, The Song’s developer submitted a document proposing the removal of the violating parts of the project within 40 days.

This February, the Danang Department of Construction fined Ly Bang Service and Trade Co., Ltd. for VND600 million for constructing a 19th floor at its 7 Seven Sea Hotel (Son Tra district) that had been approved with 18 floors.

VIR