Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam demanded a halt to the Son Tra tourism development master plan for three months to review the plan.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam makes a personal visit to Son Tra on May 27

The decision was announced during a meeting with all departments and Danang City People's Committee on May 28.

Huynh Vinh Ai, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said when they drafted the plan in late 2013, Son Tra was a hotspot for tourism and the number of visitors increased sharply. 18 projects with 5,000 rooms were approved at that time.

Ai said they had collected opinions from all agencies, reviewed and then submitted the plan to the prime minister. The plan was given approval by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam in late 2016 and made public in February.

He emphasised that all procedures were followed. They reduced the number of rooms to 1,600 and all resorts are located outside of the Son Tra natural conservation area. If the plan is scrapped, several projects which were already given permits and under construction might have to be demolished.

Vice chairman of Danang, Nguyen Ngoc Tuan claimed there were many solutions to increase the scale of investment while ensuring the ecosystem. He said the construction density in the plan was low and vehicles were not allowed into the peninsula.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said the plan couldn't be implemented yet and asked the local authorities to consider how many rooms could be further reduced, not increased. He agreed to halt work for three months so that Danang authorities could negotiate with the investors and submit the report by August 30.

"No one has to worry that the approved construction will continue to be completed during this time as Danang authorities agreed that from May 16, all decisions related to the plan must be given approval by the city's party committee and it will be monitored by the people," Dam said.

On May 27, Dam made a surprise personal visit to Son Tra. He walked around the peninsula, the on-going constructions and the foundations for 40 unlicensed villas which are part of the halted Tien Sa resort project.

dtinews