Illegal housing construction projects are increasingly 'immune' to the law?

Violations of construction regulations in housing projects tend to increase. It seems that every project has violations. Are investors becoming "immune to the law" because of lax management?

Recently, the Government Inspectorate announced the conclusion of the inspection on construction investment management at 38 housing and urban development projects in Hanoi in the period 2002-2014, in which it pointed out a series of violations during the project implementation process. The Government Inspectorate proposed to recover the amount of violations up to 1,562 billion VND.

This number makes many people surprised. Because large-scale construction projects, to be approved and implemented, must go through many levels of authority. Not to mention the construction inspection team "covering" all districts. Why are violations still not detected? Is there cover-up, intentional ignorance or lax management?

The main violations pointed out by the Government Inspectorate are: not paying land use fees; determining the financial obligations of investors incorrectly or insufficiently; project investors adjusting land use planning and construction planning but not fulfilling financial obligations for the increased area; determining land use fees of the project at incorrect locations specified in the land price list...

In recent years, a series of illegal and unlicensed construction projects have been rampant in many localities across the country. Especially in Hanoi, many construction projects violating construction order have caused public outrage, such as the 8B Le Truc building, projects that disrupt urban planning by investor Muong Thanh... What the public is concerned about is why these illegal construction projects have not been handled or demolished but have "proudly" existed for so many years.

Even though I know it's wrong, I still feel awkward.

Mr. Bui Trung Dung, Director of the Department of Construction Management (Ministry of Construction) said that according to the 2014 Construction Law, the management of construction permits must have construction planning and regulations on architectural planning management. This is the legal basis for granting construction permits, avoiding the situation of asking for and giving.

In the past years, the 'coverage' of planning was very low, so the construction licensing agency had a tendency to ask and give. When there was a violation, it was difficult to enforce demolition. Later, when there were more plans, if there was a violation of the announced planning and architectural management, it could be demolished. If the violation did not affect the general architectural planning or previous construction planning, it would not be demolished.

Also for this "historical" reason, at the second quarter 2017 press conference of the Ministry of Construction on August 2, Deputy Minister Le Quang Hung said that in the past year, there were about 60,000 different construction permits, including small construction permits and permits for entire projects. The Ministry of Construction's viewpoint is to handle all illegal constructions.

"There are violations, specifically without permission or without permission. However, it is necessary to evaluate the process," said Mr. Hung.

According to Mr. Hung, in 2010-2011, the system of legal documents regulating management and licensing was not complete, leading to the occurrence of a mechanism of asking for permission or violations that were difficult to handle.

Currently, the legal basis is increasingly complete, there are specific guiding decrees, and there are sanctions and handling methods. Thanks to that, the rate of illegal construction has decreased. However, there are still illegal and unlicensed constructions, including small and large constructions.

"The Ministry's handling viewpoint is that if there is no permit, construction must be suspended. If there is no permit, procedures must be followed to obtain a permit, and demolition may be forced. If there is no permit, construction must be suspended, and the permit and planning must be compared," said Deputy Minister Hung.

According to the Deputy Minister, it is necessary to review the nature of illegal construction as it is still an asset. If construction is being carried out immediately, it must be handled. If construction has been completed and is in accordance with planning, the difference due to violations will be collected.

Punishment for existence increases violations?

According to Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Construction Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, to exist, illegal constructions must ensure the following conditions: no boundary violations, legal land, no disputes, and stable residents.

Mr. Tuan cited an example: a house under construction has 4 floors but is being built to 5 floors, demolishing it would be a waste, so it should be allowed to exist if the planning allows for 5 floors. If it is allowed to exist, the government will collect 50% of the value of the illegal construction.

This "penalty for existence" solution may sound "humane" and avoid waste, but it is also causing violations to increase, and many investors are even "immune to the law" and are willing to violate to pay the fine. In fact, the value of the illegal construction is often much larger than the amount of money that must be paid in fines (due to the advantages of the project's location).

According to the Hanoi Department of Construction, in the first 6 months of the year, the Department Inspectorate issued 940 decisions on administrative sanctions with a total fine of more than 9.5 billion VND. This amount is "insignificant" compared to the housing values ​​arising from illegal construction for project owners.

Therefore, according to construction experts, construction order management must be done from the root, preventing violations from the root. When there are signs of violations or illegal construction, the management agency needs to "blow the whistle" immediately, not wait until "the incident is over" to solve it, and then "punish for its existence". Doing so not only makes investors "immune to the law" but also creates conditions for a group of officials to "collude" with businesses.

Previously, at the meeting of the Hanoi People's Council in July, answering questions about handling violations of construction order, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen The Hung said: "The regulations on handling violations of construction order are complete. The current situation of construction violations is caused by the lack of determination of local management officials and local authorities; the awareness of investors and a part of the people deliberately violating. Therefore, in the coming time, the city will direct the resolute handling of violations of construction order; if there are intentional violations, criminal proceedings will be taken."

It is time to tighten the construction management process. Where violations of construction order occur, construction inspectors and local leaders must be held responsible. Only then can civilized and urban order be restored.

According to Hoang Duong/baotintuc