Provincial People's Council delegates propose to stop granting construction permits for apartment buildings in Vinh City

Group 2 includes elected provincial People's Council delegates from Vinh City and Cua Lo Town, led by Mr. Nguyen Van Lu - Standing Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the Vinh City People's Council. Also attending were Mr. Nguyen Xuan Son - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; representatives of the National Assembly Delegation and provincial departments, branches and sectors. Photo: Hoai Thu

Overload and many shortcomings in apartment construction

The key issues that delegates of Group 2 are interested in and recommend are related to urban planning and handling of environmental sanitation issues. Ms. Pham Thi Hong Toan - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nghe An Newspaper pointed out the situation in the province, especially in Vinh City, where many projects are behind schedule, have incorrect planning and design, especially small projects, apartment buildings, and new urban areas. Nghe An Newspaper has received many feedbacks from the people, and has joined with the authorities to resolve these urban planning inadequacies. It is requested that relevant levels and sectors monitor more closely and take effective action to handle violations and inadequacies.

In addition, delegate Pham Thi Hong Toan also pointed out the shortcomings in environmental management and protection in the province, especially in the Western region, hospitals, craft villages, industrial parks... Reality shows that "wherever the project goes, there are environmental problems" - Ms. Pham Thi Hong Toan emphasized and asked the delegates of the Provincial People's Council to pay attention to discussing and recommending to competent authorities solutions and measures to resolve violations and shortcomings related to the above contents.

Agreeing with the opinions of the Editor-in-Chief of Nghe An Newspaper, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department also specifically pointed out a number of violations and shortcomings in apartment planning and proposed solutions. Accordingly, Ms. Huong said that it is impossible to follow the 40% regulation to just allow construction, but for Vinh City in 2019 and the following years, it is recommended to consider not granting more apartment projects, review the planning to limit the consequences of apartments being built without ensuring the prescribed factors, and ensure the rights of users.

Regarding land management, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong said that the handling after inspection and examination is not strict. In addition to the previous land violations that have not been thoroughly resolved, new violations continue to occur. Ms. Huong requested that relevant agencies handle them thoroughly, decisively and assign specific responsibilities.

In addition, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong also reflected on issues related to education, requesting the Provincial People's Committee to direct the definitive resolution of two issues, which are the implementation of Circular 16 on funding for national educational institutions (the issue of socialization and the issue of teacher surplus).

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department also specifically pointed out a number of violations and shortcomings in apartment planning and proposed solutions. Photo: Hoai Thu

Responding and discussing the above contents, Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang - Deputy Director of the Department of Construction said that economic development projects in Vinh City currently have 106 apartment building projects, of which 69 apartment buildings with 8,000 apartments are in operation. According to the standards, 40% of apartment buildings are allowed to be built, but in Vinh City, the number of apartments only accounts for 10%. Mr. Giang said that recently there have been some violations in apartment building construction, Vinh City and related departments and branches have also established an inspection team and have handled some cases.

Responding to Ms. Pham Thi Hong Toan's comments on the construction of apartments that violate planning, design, and some other violations, Mr. Giang said that there are inspection records for handling. According to the decentralization, apartments of 20 floors or more are managed by the Ministry of Construction, so if there are violations, the province will report to the ministry for handling. Currently, Vinh City has 9 apartments located in urban areas. Explaining this issue, the representative of the Department of Construction said that the construction time is to solve the urgent housing needs of the people.

Regarding the shortcomings in handling environmental pollution issues, the representative of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that the department has made a specific report explaining this issue. Nghe An has no hot spots but still has serious environmental pollution, with risks and has removed 42 establishments from the list of establishments that must be handled and there are still 35 establishments that have not been removed from the list of establishments that have handled environmental issues. The whole province has 10 industrial parks and 50 industrial clusters but only 8/20 clusters have built centralized environmental treatment areas, the reason is that there is no funding.

Mr. Doan Hong Vu - Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs pointed out the shortcomings and proposed solutions to resolve the situation of laborers exported to other countries through studying abroad, then running away to work abroad. Photo: Hoai Thu

In 2017-2018, 6 inner-city apartment building projects were cut, but the reduction must also be done in a step-by-step process. As for the reflection of the investor not complying with the agreement, these are civil disputes, so it is difficult for the relevant departments to resolve. Therefore, within the authority of the department, the department will step up handling, and for matters beyond its authority, it will make recommendations to the ministry and related departments.

The representative of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that in terms of land use planning, the province has 167 projects, of which Vinh City has 133 apartment and townhouse projects, of which 21 projects are facing problems with site clearance, the city and the department are coordinating with relevant departments and agencies to handle. Regarding land management as stated by Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, many cases have been investigated and handled and continue to be monitored, supervised and inspected to avoid related violations.

Inadequacies in environmental pollution treatment

Delegate Nguyen Van Lu - Standing Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the Vinh City People's Council chaired the discussion. Photo: Hoai Thu

Regarding domestic waste, especially Vinh City with the focus on waste treatment site in Nghi Yen, is currently facing difficulties in wastewater treatment and if it continues to not receive waste treatment from other units, it will cause a "hot" situation in handling this problem.

In addition to the contents of urban planning and environmental pollution treatment, the delegates of Group 2 also paid attention to other issues such as the situation of labor export still having many shortcomings, Vietnamese workers still running away from home, affecting the general reputation. Regarding the issue of budget collection, management and budget allocation, the delegates suggested that the province needs to make reasonable adjustments for each locality and invest in a concentrated manner, not spread out.

Concluding the discussion, Mr. Nguyen Van Lu acknowledged and agreed with the delegates' statements; requested the secretary to record the opinions to recommend the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments, levels and branches to absorb and have solutions to resolve the shortcomings in urban planning, especially for Vinh City, and the issue of ensuring environmental sanitation in the province.