VietNamNet Bridge – Deputies of the HCMC People’s Council, speaking at a meeting last Friday on the draft of the amended 1992 Constitution, proposed urban and rural administration should be constitutionalized.

Nguyen Van Dua, permanent deputy secretary of the HCMC Party Committee, said the chapter on local authorities in the draft is not different from that in the 1992 Constitution. In reality, administrative units nationwide have gradually developed their own distinctions.

For example, Binh Chanh District of HCMC is very different from any district in the northern mountainous region in terms of population and urban infrastructure. Therefore, urban and rural administration should be clearly defined.

Sharing Dua’s view, deputy Pham Van Dong said the draft amendments did not make clear the formats of urban and rural administration, so shortcomings in the day-to-day operations of the administration machinery of the city could not be solved.

For example, Binh Hung in Binh Chanh District has a population of 80,000 residents and 15 high-rise buildings but it is still a commune. In reality, administration in Binh Hung commune is more complicated than a township.

Garbage collection, roads, high-rise buildings and water drainage in Binh Hung do not meet standards as it is not an urban area. Therefore, the Constitution should tell urban and rural areas apart, Dong said.

Dua asked why there should not be a city within a city though currently there is more than one city in a single province. If the multi-city model was approved, HCMC would have four satellite cities with one in the east, one in the south, one in Binh Tan-Binh Chanh area and one in Hoc Mon-District 12 area.

These four cities would have administrative committees but no authorities. If this model was applied, management of technical and urban infrastructures would improve, Dua said.

Other deputies said that the pilot model of the districts and wards having no people’s councils had produced positive results.

Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam, chairwoman of the HCMC People’s Council, expressed concern that how the model could be applied if it was not regulated by the Constitution. The removal of the people’s councils at district and ward levels can serve as a stepping stone to implement urban administration.

The People’s Council at the meeting approved a resolution on vote of confidence on senior personnel elected by the council.

Source: SGT