VietNamNet Bridge – Ha Noi Transport Corporation (Transerco) has been put in charge of granting licences and managing car parks in the centre of Ha Noi on a trial basis from next month, the municipal People's Committee has announced.

Transerco, a State-owned enterprise, will take over management duties from people's committees in the districts of Ba Dinh, Hoan Kiem, Dong Da, Tay Ho and Hai Ba Trung. It will also look into pavement parking in these districts and handled the worst offenders.

Transerco said it would only grant licences for car parks far from busy main and belt roads or roads with a width of no more than 6.5 metres.

The enterprise will conduct weekly inspections and report to the city authority every three months.

The model will be applied to the whole city if successful.

The city authority handed over the rains to Transerco because of continual encroachment on pavements, overcharging, and increasing traffic congestion in the city.

Cao Thang, deputy head of the Ha Noi Police Office, told online newspaper Vnexpress.net authorities in many districts had failed to punish those responsible for unlicensed car parks.

He also said there were too many pavement violations, adding that on Hoang Dao Thuy Street, illegal parking took up nearly 1,500 sqm of road space and nearly 2,000 sq m of the pavement area.

Thang said the authorities in some wards even signed contracts with individuals or private firms to open illegal car parks.

Nguyen Quoc Hung, director of the city Department of Transport, said it was time to tighten control of car parks in the city.

Together with Transerco, the police would clamp down on illegal parking, he said.

According to the Ha Noi Police, there are more than 1,000 car parks in the city centre, of which 400 operate illegally. After a five-month-inspection from July to November, Ha Noi police and the municipal Department of Transport inspected 270 car parks and imposed fines worth VND4.8 billion ($230,400).

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News