The authorities in Thua Thien-Hue Province are facing financial difficulties in moving hundreds of households from the royal citadel.

Hundreds of households to be relocated out of the royal citadel

At the meeting with local people on March 22, Huynh Cu, party secretary of Hue City, said the relocation required huge amounts of investment. Moreover, the relocation is not included in the city's long-term plans so they have faced many difficulties in finding sufficient finance for the project.

Phan Ngoc Tho, chairman of Thua Thien-Hue Province, agreed that this is the province's biggest project yet. They weren't able to start the project in previous years due to lack of suitable policies.

"Our ground clearance policies have been approved by the government," he said. "Previously, stilt houses were not compensated but this has changed."

However, fund balancing is not easy and the government has only given VND100bn (USD4.3m) for the project. Thua Thien-Hue has to call for more funding from other sources. Tho hoped that the local people would understand the situation and the project could proceed smoothly.

Households that encroached upon the land from October 15, 1993, to July 1, 2004, after the area was classified as a protected area, would only be given half of the compensation for their houses and compensation for their agricultural lands. However, the total housing area must not exceed 200 square metres.

Households that acquired lands not in accordance with the regulations but still haven't paid money for land use rights would be compensated. Those with compensation of less than VND120m and have to move to the new resettlement area will be given another VND120m (USD5,100) to build new houses.

Some 4,200 households living in Hue Citadel site will be moved out this year as part of a campaign to restore the royal complex. The province needs VND2.7trn (USD115.5m) for ground clearance and VND1,3trn to build the resettlement area.

People started living in the complex in the post-war period. The complex has been damaged and polluted by the increased population.

Dan Viet/Dtinews