The HCMC People’s Committee has plans to compensate for damage suffered by households located on 4.3 hectares of land outside the approved boundaries of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area by November 30.

A bird’s eye view of the Thu Thiem Peninsula 

The municipal government held a press briefing today, September 21 on the findings of the Government Inspectorate on the Thu Thiem New Urban Area development project in District 2.

Head of the HCMC People’s Committee Office Vo Van Hoan said that the local authority would assume responsibility for its violations before the Government and the prime minister, as it had failed to properly execute the master plan for the transformation of Thu Thiem Peninsula into a new urban area.

The master plan was approved by then-Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet in a decision signed in 1996. Under the decision, alongside a map with a scale of 1/5000 for the area, the new town was scheduled to cover 930 hectares of land, inclusive of a resettlement area of 160 hectares for residents affected by the project.

However, the 1/2000 zoning plan for the new urban area, approved by the city’s then-chief architect Le Van Nam, led to a reduction of 26.3 hectares, including 23.3 hectares of land and three hectares of water surface, compared with the original master plan.

The local government had allocated the land to five companies to develop housing, entertainment and commercial projects in Binh An Ward of District 2, which led to the confusion.

Besides this, the chief architect added some 4.3 hectares of ward-based land to the planned boundary though this action was beyond the scope of his authority and was not in line with the master plan.

Local residents filed complaints about the addition to the boundary, unfair compensation and improper site clearance, according to the Government Inspectorate.

Speaking at the press briefing, Hoan noted that the municipal government will strictly apply the conclusions of the Government Inspectorate.

Hoan pledged that the affected residents would no longer be put at a disadvantage due to policy inconsistencies and land-related management violations.

Accordingly, the municipal authorities will organize dialogues with the affected households that have filed complaints over the planned boundaries and compensation policies up to October 30.

The local government will further review and complete legal procedures to further execute the master plan, inclusive of the 4.3 hectares of ward-based land, by the middle of next month.

The authority will then create compensation and resettlement support policies for households within the 4.3-hectare land area by November 30.

Besides this, the local administration will investigate other complaints involving the project to create further compensation and resettlement support policies by the middle of next month.

The local government will also clarify the responsibilities of related individuals and groups and address any violations by the end of November.

SGT