The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) has proposed to keeping an illegally built project on the banks of the Saigon River.

In June, the authorities in HCM City issued a VND1bn (USD44,000) fine and ordered a halt to the construction of the Holm Residence or Thao Dien Sapphire project for various violations to no avail.  

The TDS Company increased the total area of their ground floor 1,127 square metres more than the registered and trespassed on the river protection corridor. They also built new construction that is not included in the registered planning. TDS Company was fined VND1bn but it ignored the fine and resumed illegal construction. Statistics from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment show that the project has been used as collateral for bank loans in 2015.

TDS Company since then has removed four of 14 pools and health and leisure clubs but continued asking the local authorities to reconsider the decision and keep the remaining construction to widen the residential area.

HoREA cited Resolution 121 on penalties on construction activities which stated that investors can keep their constructions if they pay the fine and 50% of the value of the illegally-built construction. They claimed that the constructions didn’t affect surrounding constructions and there is no dispute.

Le Hoang Chau, HoREA chairman, said in the certificate of land use right, the TDS Company was allowed construction on the banks of the Saigon River and cited Decision 22 issued this year that also allowed ‘some time-limited service constructions’ to be built on the corridor.

HCM City People's Committee has asked the Department of Construction to review the request.

dtinews