VietNamNet Bridge - Officials and Party members not allowed to invite more than 300 guests to their weddings; changing the school hours; closing all parking lots in the inner areas; covering intersections are among the most controversial provisions in Hanoi.

In earlier October, the Hanoi Party Committee issued a directive requiring officials and party members to be examples in organizing weddings for themselves and their children. Accordingly, the number of wedding guests must be less than 300 people. Weddings are not encouraged to be held at 5-star hotel or luxury resorts.

However, according to many people, the regulation has interfered too deeply into personal lives. "This is a strange provision, it is fine for encouraging people to practice thrift, not making it a prohibition", one reader wrote.

Another said: "I’ve never heard about the restriction of wedding guests. Many people not only invite their close friends but many others, because that's their culture."

Many questioned about the monitoring mechanism of the regulation. However, the Hanoi Party Committee remains determined to implement the directive.

Accordingly, if the people and organizations finding officials and party members breaking the rules, they can report to the organizations where the violators work. The Hanoi Party Committee’s Inspectorate is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the directive.

In February 2012, Hanoi began to change the school and working hours in 10 inner and 2 suburban districts to reduce traffic congestion during peak hours.

Accordingly, universities, academies, colleges, vocational schools, and high school started school before 7am, closed after 7pm. Pre-schools, primary schools, and secondary schools started school from 8am and closed at 5pm. State agencies of all levels began working at 8am and ended at 5pm. Business and service center started from 9am and closed after 7pm.

Many people said that the inadequacies of the change of school and working hours would not bring high effects in reducing congestion, but would affect the health of students and upset the routine family.

In fact, when the change was just applied, many students had to leave school when it was dark. Many schoolgirls in the suburbs were joking around, met accidents while many families lost their connection because there were no longer common breakfast and dinner, when family members had different schedules. Many schools had to equip additional lighting systems to serve late classes.

After more than half of a year, the change has gradually taken effect on urban traffic. According to the Hanoi transport department, the number of vehicles during the rush hours has reduced. Some frequent congestion sites have been relieved.

Also in early 2012, Hanoi decided to ban parking lots in 262 streets. This ban is legal but it still caused a stir in the public opinion because previously, the city had licensed a lot of carparks along streets, making a bad habit for the people and now it suddenly closed all of them without opening new parking lots.

Some people said that the ban would reduce traffic congestion, limit the use of personal vehicles, especially cars. However, many others said restricting personal vehicles is limiting economic development, making it difficult for people, while public transport is underdeveloped.

In the early days, many vehicle owners had to struggle to find parking places and they had to pay higher parking fees than before. To the needs of the people, Hanoi is rushing to build a series of multi-storey car parks and underground parking lots. In addition, some districts have proposed to re-open some car parks on the street to facilitate the people.

Also related to the restriction of personal vehicles, in 2003, the Hanoi People's Committee decided to stop motorcycle registration in 7 districts. However, the goal of reducing vehicles was not achieved. Many people asked others to purchase and register vehicles in suburban districts and put the vehicles into circulation in the inner city.

Many congressmen said that the regulation violates the Civil Code about the property ownership of citizens. According to the law, Vietnamese citizens have the right to own two or even 10 or more motorcycles, if the property is legal.

After two years of implementation, this regulation was proven to be ineffective and it was criticized for violating the Civil Code, so the Hanoi People's Committee annulled the decision.

In April 2009, the Hanoi Department of Transportation experimentally used hard separators to cover intersections and opened new turns, which were a few hundred meters from the intersections.

From the Hanoi People's Council deputies to ordinary people all said that no capital in the world close their intersections and prevent the pedestrian from crossing the street. Deputy Bui Thi An proposed that if intersections are covered, the authorities have to build overpasses for the pedestrian.

However, the transport sector insisted that this method is to serve the masses, to curb congestion.

After six months, Hanoi officials admitted the limited effectiveness of this measure while the risk of accidents for pedestrians increased.

The transport sector had to remove separators at some intersections.

Translated by M. Lan