VietNamNet Bridge – Ha Noi People's Council has received 257 questions from municipal voters, mostly reflecting hot issues, ahead of its three day meeting this week.

A view of Trung Yen Urban area, one of the mostly developed urban areas in the west of Ha Noi. Ha Noi People's Council has received 257 questions from municipal voters, mostly reflecting hot issues, ahead of its three day meeting this week.

Of these questions, 50 are addressed to Ha Noi People's Committee (the executive arm elected by the People's Council) and the remainder concern the lower levels of the government under it – the people's committees of districts and communes.

The Ha Noi People's Committee has decided to pick the most relevant questions from them and reply to them during the session. It has also promised to answer the remaining queries before October 30 on its website and through the mass media.

Some of the prominent questions are about the lack of playground for children; building cultural venues; the rehabilitation of drug addicts and their reintegration into the society; companies owning the debts of social insurance premiums they are supposed to pay the State for their employees; as well as building healthcare institutions and bulk messaging.

Questions concerning urban management include why the city cut so many old, big trees that gave a green cover over streets and were considered by Hanoians as part of their city life; the construction of the second water pipeline to draw water from the Hoa Binh Reservoir to the city (as the first water pipe sees repeated breakages, leading to public outrage over the lack of water supply in some areas); and the management of apartment buildings and resettlements.

Issues concerning agriculture and rural areas were also highlighted in some questions. There are queries why so many farmers abandon their fields to waste away cultivable land and how to supply clean water to rural dwellers.

Questions pertaining to science and technology and the environment centre around how the funds for developing science and technology are utilised, the severe pollution of rivers, and polluting craft villages.

Nguyen Van Nam, a permanent member of the Ha Noi People's Council, asked why the city has failed to implement the policy of building playground for children on land recovered from spots where some State agencies had been removed or on land whose lease contracts had expired.

Giving further explanation on the city's plan to replant 6,700 trees earlier this March, which was met with fierce resistance from the public and led to the mayor's decision to stop the tree felling on March 22, Vice City Mayor Vu Hong Khanh affirmed that the policy was right and their stance was proven correct by the historic thunderstorm of June 13 that uprooted hundreds of trees around the city downtown, killing two people, injuring several others, and destroying many cars.

He said the only part that went wrong in this policy was that its enforcers rushed to cut trees before explaining the logic of their act to the people.

The day before yesterday (July 7), in a report read at the council's session, Khanh said that in the first half of this year, the city's economy grew by 7.8 per cent, the highest first-half growth rate in the last four years.

He also said the city had been aiming for an economic growth of 10-11 per cent for the full year.

The same day, the council passed a resolution naming 19 new streets and extending three streets.

VNS