VietNamNet Bridge – The Son La Provincial Party Committee has passed a draft document for the VND1.400 trillion ($64 million) project to build a statue of President Ho Chi Minh and supporting works.



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These houses will be removed for the VND1.4 trillion project.



According to Son La authorities, the project aims to express the gratitude that the country's northwestern ethnic groups in general and the ethnic groups of Son La Province have towards the beloved President. It also aims to improve the infrastructure of the province.

This huge project was previously the center of debate of local media and the public as Son La is a poor province. Public opinion and experts said that Son La was a poor province and the local authorities should not invest $64 million in a monument. That amount of money should be used to build public works that serve the people such as roads, hospitals or schools.

This project will build a statue of the late President Ho Chi Minh and the ethnic group in the northwestern mountains of 5-8m tall.

The project also includes the construction of a war memorial for Vietnamese soldiers who died for the country's reunification, a park, a museum featuring the history and culture of the province, and Tay Bac Square where 20,000 people can congregate.

The statue will be installed in Tay Bac Square, located in Chieng Coi Ward, and To Hieu Ward of Son La City.

The estimated area required for the project is 10ha to 15 ha. The $64 million project, to be funded by the state budget, would be ready by 2019.

Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Son La Province, Mr. Le Hong Minh, said that the VND1.4 trillion will be spent on seven main categories including: VND250 billion (over $9 million) for the President Ho Chi Minh statue, VND20 billion for the square, VND48 billion for a temple worshipping President Ho Chi Minh, VND30 billion for the Monument for War Martyrs and VND260 billion for land compensation and site clearance.

In August Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the People's Committee of Son La province to submit a report on the project. The province was also asked to send a report on building the statue to the Secretariat of the Central Committee Communist Party of Vietnam for verification. It was told it would only be allowed to start construction if the Secretariat gave the green light, the PM said.

Hoang Sang