VietNamNet Bridge – The capital city's legislative body yesterday, July 3, unanimously passed a resolution to impose accommodation requirements for people from other provinces wanting permanent residency in the metropolis.

A street in Ha Noi's Cau Giay District during rush hour. The city has imposed "technical barriers" including accommodation requirements to curb migration into the already over-populated city.

Accordingly, migrants who do not own a house in Ha Noi have to prove that the average floor area of their rented accommodation is at least 15sq. m per capita in order to be eligible to apply for permanent residency.

They also have to have lived in Ha Noi continuously for at least three years.

The measure was described as a "technical barrier" to curb migration into the already over-populated city.

It is the first time accommodation status has been listed among the eligibility criteria.

The provision will be applicable to the city's 10 populous inner districts 10 days after the resolution is signed and shall be effective until 2015.

Vu Hong Khanh, Deputy Chairman of the municipal People's Committee, the executive branch which drafted the resolution, explained the criteria were designed to be more stringent for inner districts.

"It was because the migration flow over the recent years outpaced physical and social infrastructure development, which had led to acute social problems such as chronic traffic jams and overloaded hospitals," he noted.

"We hope that putting up a technical barrier might help curb the migration flow or at least slow it down," he said.

He said the level of 15sq. m was lower than his agency's initial proposal and had been lowered after discussions with relevant ministries.

According to statistics from Ha Noi Police, the average population density of the capital is nearly 2,200 people per square kilometre, eight times higher than the national figures.

However, Civil Engineering Association deputy chairman Pham Sy Liem has questioned the feasibility of the scheme.

"The bottom line is as long as migrants can find jobs in the city, they will stay. Your policy for sure makes it harder for them to get their kids admitted into schools or seek treatment in hospitals but, believe me, they will always find ways around it, of course at greater expense. In the end, the poor will suffer even more," he said.

Liem, who once served as deputy chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee, said he did not think the measure would work.

"I find the approach quite incomprehensible. They seem to view migrants as trouble-makers while they overlook the fact that the migrants have contributed a lot to the capital's economic growth. Not to mention that the migrants are actually taking up the jobs which I doubt any Hanoian would not like to do: taxi drivers, construction workers or porters," he said.

Nguyen Van Tung, 29, a Ha Noi-based journalist, said the requirement of 15sq.m per capita was preposterously high for a lot of people. He was now living with his wife and his daughter in a rented house with a total floor area of 27sq.m, which fell short of the eligibility criteria for a two-adult household.

"We have always wanted to get permanent residency certificates, so our lives would be more convenient. For example, my daughter could get a place in the school in the commune where we are living. However, we cannot afford to rent a bigger house because our salaries working for State agencies are modest," he told Viet Nam News yesterday.

Tung said while life might be difficult for his family, who came from provinces outside Ha Noi, they had decided to stay because here there were more opportunities to develop professionally and access better services.

The list of permanent residency criteria is among a number of topics stipulated under the Capital Law which came into effects earlier this month.

Ha Noi to reward high achievers who contribute to development

Ha Noi People's Council yesterday, July 3, passed a resolution at its seventh session that focuses on preferential treatment for talented people who contribute to the capital's development.

According to the resolution, the city will draw up incentive policies aimed at high-performing university graduates, educators who make significant advances in student training as well as top class sports coaches, leading scientists and artists.

Depending on the types of beneficiaries, the incentives include immediate recruitment without the need for further testing, financial support 20 times more than the basic salary after recruitment and extra support for those renting or buying housing, in line with the Government and city's policies.

Further more, those who have had two years work experience would be given financial support to pursue post-graduate degrees either domestically or overseas.

Confidence vote

The Ha Noi People's Council began its seventh session on Monday to discuss a number of issues, including a potential vote of confidence in 18 senior officials elected by the council.

The Chairwoman of the municipal People's Council, Ngo Thi Doan Thanh, who addressed the opening ceremony, said this session would also increase the number of full-time deputies, to enhance the councils performance.

In her speech, Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, stressed that organising a vote of confidence was an important task and needed to be conducted in an objective, transparent and constructive manner.

Reporting on the city's socio-economic performance for the first six months of this year, Vice Chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee Nguyen Van Suu said that despite the current economic difficulties, production levels in the city had risen and trade had posted a reasonable growth rate, albeit lower than the annual target.

He added that the city's GDP was estimated to have risen by 7.6 per cent during the period, lower than the original target of at least 8.0 per cent. Meanwhile, the collection of taxes was lower than during the same period last year and fell well beneath forecasts.

The slow recovery of economies across the world was to blame for the problems, said Suu.

In the near future, the city's businesses needed to introduce further measures to support the market, remove obstacles and develop production, he said.

VNN/VNS