On the southern bank of Vinh River, from Tung Binh Bridge down to Tan Phuong Bridge (belonging to Tan An and Yen Giang blocks, Vinh Tan Ward, Vinh City), there is a vast expanse of land, but most of it is wild, full of weeds and reeds. People call this the Petroleum Urban Area...
To get to the vast, wild land on the southern bank of the Vinh River, from the riverside road on the northern bank, go over Tung Binh Bridge or Tan Phuong Bridge. This land is located quite close to the dike on the southern bank of the Vinh River. Standing on the southern bank dike, as far as the eye can see, there are only a few households raising aquatic products, raising poultry in some ponds, the rest is just weeds and reeds.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tho - a citizen of Tan An block is one of the few households that are still living, raising aquatic products and raising poultry in this area. According to Mr. Tho, this is the agricultural land of the people of Tan An and Yen Giang blocks, Vinh Tan ward. He himself also has 4 sao, equivalent to 2000m² of land.
Wondering why agricultural land is so deserted? Mr. Tho said that after the State approved the construction of an urban area here with the Oil and Gas Company as the investor, people started to abandon their fields. Mr. Tho said: “The rice fields in Yen Giang block have been abandoned for about ten years, but the rice fields in Tan An block are still being produced by people. However, there are many difficulties due to drought and too many rats and insects from nearby projects…”
According to Mr. Tho, the investor of the Petroleum Urban Area project had made a plan for compensation and site clearance; calculated compensation for the people at a unit price of 150 million VND/sao; and also posted a list of subjects whose land was recovered, promised a payment time, but then they left and did nothing more. "This incident happened a long time ago..." - Mr. Nguyen Van Tho shared.
The head of Tan An block, Mr. Nguyen Trung Hau, confirmed the information that Mr. Nguyen Van Tho had discussed and also called this the "Oil and Gas Urban Area project". According to Mr. Hau, in the two areas of Tan An block and Yen Giang block, Vinh Tan ward, there are about 130 households in the agricultural production block; of which, people in Tan An block account for the majority, about 100 households. Currently, people in Yen Giang do not produce; while in Tan An, there is no summer-autumn crop, only winter-spring crop, but the yield is low, about 250 - 270 kg/sao.
Regarding the Petroleum Urban Area project, according to Mr. Hau, around 2010 - 2011, the investor had a number of activities such as making a compensation plan, organizing the posting of the list, unit prices... and then promising to pay 1 month later. In Tan An block, there were a few families with a lot of agricultural land that was subject to recovery, so they thought that in a short time they would have billions of dong, so they borrowed money to buy supplies. Unfortunately, the investor "went straight" so these families had to take on bank debt... "People are waiting to receive a definitive answer from the government on whether to continue with the project or not?" - Block leader Nguyen Van Hau discussed.
Is there or is there not a Petroleum Urban Area project “sleeping” on the southern bank of Vinh River? We found out that it is exactly as people discussed.
Specifically, on November 5, 2010, in Decision No. 5343/QD-UBND-DT, the Provincial People's Committee approved the detailed construction planning of the Petroleum Urban Area project in Vinh Tan Ward, Vinh City, invested by Nghe An Petroleum Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company. The project has a total area of up to 147,660m² (the North borders residential roads and Nhan Tam Social Protection Center; the South borders agricultural land; the West borders residential areas of Yen Giang and Chau Hung blocks; the East borders the Vinh River dike).
Decision No. 5343/QD-UBND-DT clearly states that the Petroleum Urban Area will be invested in and constructed with 5 main functional sub-areas. These are: Residential area (townhouses, villas, resettlement, housing for low-income people); Commercial service complex, high-rise apartments; Public area (kindergarten, culture); Traffic and public parking.
Regarding the planning of landscape architecture space, it is described in detail in each functional subdivision. Such as the low-income residential area with an area of nearly 9,000m², including 2 5-storey apartment buildings, construction density of only 45%; the villa area with an area of over 33,000m², construction density of 55% with 130 lots; the adjacent housing area with an area of over 29,000m², maximum construction density of 75%; the complex of commercial service area and high-rise apartment located in the central area with an area of over 12,000m², including 2 apartment buildings from 9 to 11 floors combined with blocks for commercial services, construction density of 45 - 50%; the public area with an area of over 3,600m² located in the center of the adjacent housing areas, villas, is arranged with an international kindergarten; Green area, sports and fitness center combined with clubhouse with a total area of more than 8,000m²...
Regarding the investor's responsibility, it is also clearly stipulated in Decision No. 5343/QD-UBND-DT. That is: "Nghe An Petroleum Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company is responsible for completing related procedures to start construction within 12 months and completing construction and putting the project into use within 24 months from the effective date of this decision. In case the above progress is not ensured, the planning approved in this decision will be canceled and Nghe An Petroleum Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company will not be reimbursed for the costs incurred related to the project".
Decision No. 5343/QD-UBND-DT approved by the Provincial People's Committee on November 5, 2010, along with the fact that there are no investment activities in the entire planned area, shows that the Petroleum Urban Area project has been in a "suspended" state for 10 years.
Based on the regulations on the investor's responsibility as specifically stated by the Provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 5343/QD-UBND-DT, with the current situation that the investor does not carry out compensation for site clearance and organize construction investment activities, by the end of 2013, the detailed construction plan of the Petroleum Urban Area project in Vinh Tan ward will be canceled. Why is this regulation not implemented?
In response to this question, officials of Vinh Tan Ward said that canceling the decision or revoking the suspended project is not under the authority of the ward or commune authorities. However, they confirmed that the project has not been implemented for too long, while the investor has not made compensation for site clearance, so at many meetings of the Ward People's Council, many voters have expressed strong opinions. Therefore, Vinh Tan Ward People's Committee has sent a document to report to Vinh City People's Committee.
The latest document No. 319/BC-UBND dated July 20, 2020, Vinh Tan Ward People's Committee reported to Vinh City People's Committee regarding the Petroleum Urban Area project with additional information: On March 14, 2011, the project was approved by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment with extract No. 30/2011/BĐ.ĐC; On November 16, 2011, in Document No. 2152/TTg-KTN, the Government agreed to allow the conversion of agricultural land to implement the project with an area of 14.77 hectares.
In this document, Vinh Tan Ward People's Committee stated its opinion: The project was approved by the Provincial People's Committee a long time ago, but the compensation and site clearance work was slow, leading to many people reporting that the planning was suspended during People's Council meetings, making agricultural production unsafe. Therefore, it is necessary to organize an inspection of the capacity of Nghe An Petroleum Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company before allowing further investment...
