A view of the Thu Thiem new urban area project in HCM City’s District 2. — VNA/VNS Photo Manh Linh

The management of the urban area said 198 households in Binh Khanh Ward and some neighbouring areas have the legal deeds that make them eligible for the land plots within the area.

They are allowed to build a maximum of four floors.

The city People’s Committee has instructed the management to complete infrastructure like electricity, water supply and sewage system before handing over the land to the resettled households.

They lived on a 4.3ha area outside the originally planned Thu Thiem new urban area, but “the city government illegally took their land”, according to the Government Inspectorate.

Recently, the city approved compensation and resettlement for more than 330 households whose lands have been acquired, with those with ownership deeds getting new lots of equivalent size and others who lived on land lots since before October 1993 getting 30-40 per cent of their holding (but not more than 200sq.m).

Households with agricultural lands, whether with or without documents, will get land lots of equivalent size, but to convert them into residential land, they need to pay the normal fees based on September 2018 rates.

Households who had less than 36sq.m of land will be resettled in condominiums instead.

Those who had more than 200sq.m will get 200sq.m in land and the value of the rest in cash based on official rates on May 7.

Speaking at a recent meeting, Le Thanh Liem, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee, said the affected households would begin to get new land lots, apartments and cash next month.

The 657ha Thu Thiem new urban area is on the namesake peninsula facing District 1 across the Sai Gon River.

The proposed financial district and mixed-use urban area was expected to become the largest inner-city development in Southeast Asia when it was approved in 1996.

It took more than 10 years to acquire the land, with nearly 15,000 households already resettled. 

More than 99 per cent of the land has been cleared.

Tat Thanh Cang warned over wrongdoings in Thu Thiem New Urban Area

Tat Thanh Cang, deputy head of the HCMC Steering Committee on Historic Sites, has been criticized for his wrongdoings in connection with the Thu Thiem New Urban Area Project in District 2 during his tenure as the director of the HCMC Transport Department – PHOTO: LDO

Tat Thanh Cang, former director of the HCMC Transport Department, has been criticized for and warned over his wrongdoings in handling the Thu Thiem New Urban Area Project in District 2.

On Friday, the Inspection Committee of the HCMC Party Committee announced its decision over considering and enforcing Party discipline on 66 former and current officials involved with the controversial project.

The municipal inspection committee criticized the 49-year-old official who currently serves as deputy head of the HCMC Steering Committee on Historic Sites and two other senior officials.

In November 2018, the Inspection Commission of the Party Central Committee found that Cang, who was at the time the deputy secretary of the HCMC Party Committee, had committed a serious breach of regulations on the management and use of assets at State-owned enterprises.

During his tenure as the director of the municipal Transport Department, he broke regulations on land and investment and construction management after he approved a project to build four main roads in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area and initialed a construction contract for these roads.

The municipal inspection committee on Friday also criticized Phan Thi Thang, 44, former director of the HCMC Finance Department, who acts as deputy chairwoman of the HCMC People’s Council, as well as Bui Xuan Cuong, 45, former director of the HCMC Transport Department, who heads the Management Authority for Urban Railways of HCMC.

The trio committed shortcomings and violations, which should have led to disciplinary action, according to the city watchdog.

To date, however, the timeframe for Party discipline has expired, so the HCMC Party Committee decided to censure them.

The watchdog also issued warnings, reprimands, criticism and other disciplinary or non-disciplinary measures against 63 other former and current officials who were involved in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area Project. VNS/SGT

HCM City approves compensation plan for Thu Thiem residents

HCM City’s administration has approved a policy of compensation and resettlement for households in a 4.3ha area located outside the original boundary of the Thu Thiem new urban area project in the city’s District 2.

Thu Thiem residents to receive compensation this month

More than 300 households in a 4.3ha area located outside the original boundary of the Thu Thiem new urban area project in HCM City’s District 2 will receive compensation this month in exchange for their land, a top city official has said.