HCM City apologises to local residents for shortcomings at Thu Thiem project
Five blocks outside Thu Thiem urban area to be reviewed

The Thu Thiem Peninsula in HCM City’s District 2. The city will soon submit a compensation policy for affected residents in the Thu Thiem new urban area to the city's People’s Council for approval. — VNA/VNS Photo Manh Linh

Nguyen Thien Nhan, secretary of the city’s Party Committee, said that discussions about compensation had taken place at several meetings since the Government Inspectorate had released its conclusions about the heated dispute in the Thu Thiem area.

Nhan, who spoke at the 30th HCM City Party Committee conference on July 8, said: “It will be submitted as soon as possible.”

If city authorities decide to use the State budget for compensation, only the city’s People’s Council will have the right to do so, he said.

The resettlement of residents in the 657ha new urban area of Thu Thiem should be given priority this year to strengthen trust among people, Nhan said.

Approved by the Government in 1996, the proposed financial district and mixed-use urban area was expected to become the largest inner-city development in Southeast Asia, but it has experienced delays.

Nguyen Thien Nhan, secretary of the city's Party Committee, speaks at the 30th HCM City Party Committee conference yesterday. VNS Photo Bo Xuan Hiep

Challenges

At the conference, Nhan praised the city’s social and economic achievements in the first half of the year, citing “significant improvements while still dealing with problems inherited from the past years”.

He noted, however, that complaints about delayed projects, including the Thu Thiem area, the High-Tech Zone in District 9, Safari Park in Cu Chi District and the Singapore-Viet Nam urban area in Binh Chanh District, remain unresolved.

The slow disbursement of public investment projects has been a significant challenge, he noted. “The disbursement rate for public invested projects in districts reached only 20 per cent in the first half of the year.”

He said serious measures should be taken to speed up the disbursement in the second half of the year.

In a related matter, he noted the city had attracted nearly 600 foreign investment projects, but had a total registered capital of only US$540 million in the first six months.

“Why aren’t big projects coming to the city? Is land, as well as technical infrastructure, ready for foreign investors? What is the status of the city’s service sector?” he asked.

Nhan also pointed out that urban planning had not kept up with the city’s development.

“The city is struggling with aging infrastructure, and many of its major infrastructure projects are progressing at a snail’s pace,” he said, adding that construction management was also problematic.

In the first six months, more than 1,600 construction violations were recorded. Of the number, 600 did not have licences from the city.

During the two-day conference, delegates will review socio-economic tasks in the first six months and prospects for the rest of the year, as well as for the 2015-20 period for the city’s 24 districts.

The conference will also discuss results of the city’s seven breakthrough programmes and smart-city scheme.

In addition, it will review a National Assembly resolution on piloting special policies for the city’s development and propose solutions for the last six months of the year.

Nhan said the city also needs to address traffic issues and crime.

Regarding the new urban area in Thu Thiem, it has taken 10 years to complete site clearance, with nearly 15,000 households already resettled. More than 99 per cent of land in the proposed area has been cleared.

VNS