Suspended and delayed projects: Need to be resolutely handled

1. Consequences for development

Suspended projects, projects behind schedule, and projects using land for the wrong purposes in the province have left many consequences for the overall development of the province and each locality, affecting the lives and activities of the people, becoming pressing social issues.

CONSTRUCTION "PULLING" AT THE "GOLDEN" POSITION

Participating in many forums to meet voters, we (PV) recorded many opinions from voters from one session to another; recommendations from People's Council delegates at commune, district and provincial levels and National Assembly delegates. Mr. Nguyen Trong Hue - Chairman of the Veterans Association of Cua Lo town expressed his thoughts: People are upset aboutproject status, project behind schedule, projects using land for the wrong purpose and continuously and repeatedly reporting to all levels, but until now there has been no change, abandoned projects, unfinished "smeared" construction projects still exist in "golden" land locations of the town, causing sloppiness to the face of the coastal urban area. This leads to skepticism and loss of trust among the people!

The Cua Lo Golf Course, Hotel and Villa Complex Project is still just an empty lot. Photo: Thanh Cuong - Mai Hoa

Mr. Nguyen Trong Hue also said: The most pressing issue for the people is the large-scale projects, reclaiming people's production land, even forcing them to implement the project for the development goal of the town, but up to now, in reality, many projects are still abandoned with quite large areas, while people have no land for production. Typically, the Cua Lo Golf Course, Hotel and Villa Complex Project (over 130 hectares); Van Xuan University Project (50 hectares); Hong Thai Ship Project (15 hectares) after more than 20 years of implementation, changing through several investors, has not yet been completed and put into use.

In Nghi Thiet commune, Nghi Loc district, voter Bui Van Thanh - Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune also reflected that there was a plan to build Cua Lo deep-water port for 12 years and a plan for Hai Thinh eco-tourism project to be cleared for 14 years, but up to now, it has not been invested in or built; greatly affecting the socio-economic development of the locality and the lives of people related to house construction. The land is abandoned, but people want land to invest and develop economic and service models but there is none.

In Vinh city, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Toan - Chairman of Quan Bau Ward People's Committee also informed that in the ward there are 10 projects behind schedule, including abandoned projects that have lasted for years, becoming landfills, causing a mess to the urban landscape.

Regarding suspended projects and projects behind schedule, many local authorities, especially Vinh city and Cua Lo town, have repeatedly petitioned the province.check, resolutely handleprojects that are not eligible for implementation to create development momentum for localities by attracting new capable investors, creating social resources, and at the same time overcoming obstacles to urban development due to abandoned projects, slow-progress projects, and unfinished projects.

Panoramic view of Nghe An Petroleum Urban Area project in Vinh Tan ward (Vinh city). Photo: Thanh Cuong

From the concerns of voters and people and the recommendations and proposals of some localities, recently, the Provincial People's Council issued a resolution to establish a specialized monitoring team on suspended projects, projects behind schedule and projects using land for the wrong purpose in the province to assess the overall picture of suspended projects and projects behind schedule, on that basis finding effective solutions for handling them throughout the province.

PROJECT "HANGED" DURING THE EXTENSION PERIOD

According to the report of the Provincial People's Committee, from 2016 to 2019, the Provincial People's Committee established 6 interdisciplinary teams to inspect investment projects in the province. In 2020-2021 alone, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, although no interdisciplinary teams were established, the Provincial People's Committee directed departments and branches to review and report on the implementation status of projects that were behind schedule; projects that have not implemented compensation, site clearance, or completed land procedures for construction after 12 months; projects that have been approved for investment policy/site selection/planning approval but have not implemented compensation, site clearance, or completed land procedures for construction after 2 years.

Up to now, the Van Xuan University of Technology project has only implemented phase 1, violating the progress of phase 2, and has been proposed to be revoked by the authorities. Photo: Thanh Cuong

As a result of the inspection and review of 489 projects and the total number of inspected projects being 391, the Provincial People's Committee issued a decision to terminate the operation of all projects, reclaim land, and terminate the validity of related legal documents for 92 projects (to date, the province has terminated the operation of 220 projects with a total planning area of ​​over 120,816 hectares); extended the progress of 179 projects; continued to implement according to the permitted progress for 30 projects; the remaining 90 projects were temporarily suspended to review related planning, temporarily suspended to handle environmental issues, handle public assets, or require investors to review, report, and fulfill financial obligations...

One thing worth mentioning and causing much public outrage for a long time is that many projects have been suspended and behind schedule, although they have been extended, even extended many times, but when the extension period expires, they have not been completed. This reality has also been demonstrated through the data that the Provincial People's Committee reported to the thematic supervision delegation of the Provincial People's Council, out of a total of 179 projects that were extended through inspections and reviews, there were 86 projects that, although the extension period expired, had not yet been completed and put into use.

The project of Commercial Service Area and Office for Lease in Hung Dung Ward has changed from 1 investor to 3 investors but is still not completed. Photo: Thanh Cuong

In particular, projects located in the urban center, such as the BMC Commercial Center and High-rise Apartment Complex Project at 92 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Vinh City, have been inspected twice and extended to November 30, 2019, but have not yet been completed; or the Commercial Service Area Project, Office for Lease, High-rise Apartment Building in Hung Dung Ward, Vinh City (on Lenin Avenue), from 1 project, 1 investor, has now been transferred to 3 projects, 3 investors and after 3 inspections, is still 2,606/4,056 m²not built yet.

Or the Office and Product Introduction Center Project in Nghi Phu Commune (located on Xo Viet - Nghe Tinh Street) has been inspected 3 times, extended 3 times and the most recent extension is until January 18, 2022, but up to this point, the project still has only a few concrete pillars. Localities have many projects that have expired but have not been completed, such as Vinh city with 48/83 projects; Hoang Mai town with 19/24 projects; Dien Chau district with 6/7 projects...

Some projects were allocated land, leased land for the wrong purpose and violated construction order, such as the Loc Chau Luxury Apartment Project in Cua Lo town, the investor arbitrarily changed the purpose of using non-agricultural land that is not residential land (garden land, public green trees) to build a commercial center, residential land but has not been permitted by the competent state agency; Vinh City Central Park Project, changed the purpose from public land for business purposes to commercial and service purposes; The Export Garment Factory Expansion Project in Dien My commune, Dien Chau district has not completed the land allocation and lease procedures but has built a number of construction items (1-storey house 248m²not in the plan).

The Office and Product Introduction Center project on Xo Viet - Nghe Tinh Street is still behind schedule after 3 extensions. Photo: Mai Hoa

2. Requires drastic participation of functional sectors

There are many reasons for suspended projects, delayed projects and misuse of land, both objective and subjective. However, whatever the reason, it is necessary to have a thorough analysis and assessment and have a clear solution and attitude in handling it.

“PROBLEMATIC” INVESTOR CAPACITY

During the monitoring process, through working with localities, provincial departments, branches and the Provincial People's Committee, the causes leading to suspended projects, slow-progress projects and difficulties in handling these projects were analyzed and clarified. According to comrade Hoang Quoc Viet - Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, in order for the project to be implemented quickly and on schedule, the first factor is the capacity of the investor, including financial capacity, management capacity, operation, and project implementation organization. Agreeing with this opinion, comrade Le Sy Chien - Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee said that when the investor has the capacity and determination to do it, the project will be implemented smoothly and faster. For example, the Ecopark project in Hung Hoa commune with a scale of 200 hectares, but within 1 year, the site clearance was completed for implementation.

However, in reality, according to Mr. Ho Viet Dung - Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment, there is currently a lack of legal basis for appraisal and capacity requirements of investors. The Investment Laws of 2005, 2014, and 2020 do not mention the appraisal of financial capacity, criteria for sufficient financial capacity of investors, but only in the Land Law of 2013 and Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP of the Government in effect, investors only have to prove from 15% to 20% of equity in the total investment of the project. This is a difficult problem in the process of advising the province on investment policy decisions for projects in the area from specialized departments. And in the implementation practice in the past, the appraisal and determination of financial capacity of investors is mainly based on financial reports prepared by investors themselves and are responsible for themselves.

The project of restaurant, resort villas, housing for officials, workers and upgrading the line of building and repairing wooden boats is an unfinished investment. Photo: Mai Hoa

Regarding the capacity of project management, administration and implementation, Mr. Chu Anh Tuan - Deputy Director of the Department of Construction said that through the inspection of projects, many investors have weak and unprofessional management and administration skills, and do not have effective plans to mobilize financial resources, human resources, machinery and equipment to implement the project; do not anticipate risks and incidents that may occur. Many investors, when checking their awareness of urban projects, only think that after building traffic infrastructure, electricity and water, they will divide and sell plots of land without properly recognizing the responsibility of building social infrastructure and housing in it.

Besides the investor's capacity, site clearance and resettlement; traffic connection procedures; multiple planning adjustments in many projects... are also reasons for slowing down project progress.

In addition to the above reasons, many sectors also believe that the current regulations on investment project implementation time applied to all projects are not suitable for reality. According to the reflection of the sectors, the regulations on project implementation time within 24 months from the date of approval of investment policy (Investment Law) and 24 months from the date of land allocation on the field (Land Law) for simple projects such as building a gas station with only a few hundred square meters can be implemented, but urban and housing projects with an area of ​​tens or hundreds of hectares with many investment items are not feasible, even before implementation, it is known that it cannot be completed within that period of time. According to some opinions presented to the Provincial People's Council's supervision delegation, the process of reviewing and appraising the documents of many projects to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for approval of investment policy, before starting, it is known that progress will be delayed.

The Provincial People's Council's monitoring delegation directly surveyed a number of projects behind schedule. Photo: Mai Hoa

During the monitoring process, Comrade Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council also raised many issues related to the causes analyzed by provincial departments, branches and localities, including the capacity of investors. "When the capacity of investors is weak, it is the responsibility of departments and branches in the stage of reviewing and appraising documents to let "weak" investors in" - the Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council emphasized, at the same time also raised concerns about the effectiveness of implementing investment deposits. Investment deposits according to regulations are a measure for investors to "save" money to implement investment projects, however, there are still many suspended projects and projects behind schedule.

On the other hand, the responsibility and coordination between provincial departments and branches; between departments and branches with localities, between departments and branches with investors are not close and effective in reviewing, inspecting, urging project implementation as well as promptly and decisively advising the province to handle suspended projects, projects behind schedule, and projects used for the wrong purposes.

DETERMINED TO MAKE REAL CHANGE

Realizing the consequences of suspended projects and projects behind schedule, in recent times, localities, departments, branches and the Provincial People's Committee have also paid attention to reviewing, inspecting and handling many projects. However, the rate of projects being revoked and terminated is still low. According to the reflection of 3 departments assigned to lead interdisciplinary inspection teams in recent times, including: Department of Planning and Investment, Department of Construction, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the handling of suspended projects and projects behind schedule is currently very difficult. The reason lies in the fact that the provisions of the law on handling projects behind schedule are not clear, specific and overlapping. For example, according to the 2014 Investment Law, there are regulations on terminating projects that have not been implemented for more than 12 months; however, the 2020 Investment Law has removed this regulation, so to terminate the project in this case, it is necessary to inspect, sanction, and make a record; in case the investor fails to remedy the situation, the project will be terminated. Or there are overlaps between regulations, such as Clause 4, Article 41 of the Investment Law 2020 stipulates that projects cannot adjust their progress by more than 24 months compared to the progress in the decision approving the first investment policy; but Point i, Clause 1, Article 64 of the Land Law 2013 stipulates that projects that are 24 months behind schedule can have their land use period extended by 24 months. Thus, the extension period for projects that have been allocated land or leased land according to the provisions of the Land Law is 48 months compared to 24 months of the Investment Law from the date of acceptance of the investment policy, regardless of the fact that the project has been allocated land or leased land.

Covers of some articles in Nghe An Newspaper about suspended projects and slow-progress projects in the province.

On the other hand, most projects are behind schedule due to the capacity of the investor, while the Investment Law and the Land Law do not stipulate cases of project termination or land reclamation due to investors not meeting the financial capacity requirements. In addition, the post-reclamation handling of projects in which the investor has transferred a part of the land area, formed a secondary investor or transferred it to people to build houses such as the Minh Khang Project is facing difficulties. Or handling projects that have formed assets on the land such as the Commercial Housing Project invested by Vinaconex Construction Joint Stock Company 16; Nam Dan Plaza Building Project invested by Ocean Bank...; although, according to regulations, investors self-liquidate and if the investor cannot liquidate, the State agency must establish a liquidation team, but there is currently no legal guidance on how to liquidate.

If we say that it is difficult and difficult to handle, we are not fulfilling our responsibilities, especially when the problem of suspended projects, slow-progress projects, and projects using land for the wrong purposes is a pressing issue among the people. Resolution 4 of the Central Committee (term XII) has pointed out the "disease" of indifference, apathy, and lack of responsibility towards the difficulties, frustrations, and legitimate demands of the people. If the frustrations about suspended projects and slow-progress projects are not thoroughly resolved, it means that all levels and sectors are acknowledging their "disease" as pointed out in Resolution 4 of the Central Committee (term XII).

A positive signal is that at the meeting between the thematic supervision delegation of the Provincial People's Council and the Provincial People's Committee on May 20, the head of the Provincial People's Committee, Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee emphasized the viewpoint and political determination: The Provincial People's Committee will focus on reviewing and immediately handling suspended projects, projects behind schedule, and projects using land for the wrong purposes that have been reported on the basis of reviewing and classifying projects; in which, projects with objective problems such as site clearance that investors are enthusiastic and determined to implement will be accompanied to resolve to implement the project; and projects whose procedures and site have been resolved but are not implemented will be resolutely revoked. The Provincial People's Committee will also issue a set of procedures to review and handle suspended and delayed projects on the basis of legal regulations; strictly control investors from the beginning right from the time of research and survey.

The thematic supervision delegation of the Provincial People's Council worked with the Provincial People's Committee "on suspended projects, projects behind schedule and projects using land for the wrong purpose in Nghe An province". Photo: Thanh Duy

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung also said that the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee will submit to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee for consideration and issuance of a specialized Resolution on handling suspended projects, projects behind schedule and projects using land for the wrong purpose in Nghe An province with the goal of submitting this content at the regular meeting in September 2022 of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee.

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council also emphasized: Handling suspended projects, projects behind schedule and projects using land for the wrong purpose in Nghe An province is a sensitive, challenging and very difficult task; requiring relevant departments and branches such as: Planning and Investment, Natural Resources and Environment, Construction, Management Board of the Southeast Economic Zone to immediately start implementing, thoroughly informing cadres of the province's viewpoint to implement and create real changes in this field, without waiting for the specialized Resolution of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee to be issued in the coming time.