Billion dollar project... makes people suffer

(Baonghean) - The Saigon - Tan Ky Cement and Construction Materials Industrial Park Project (Nghe An) invested by Saigon - Tan Ky Cement Joint Stock Company - a member of Kinh Bac Urban and Development Corporation under Saigon Investment Group was granted a construction license by the People's Committee of Nghe An province in September 2009. Mr. Dang Thanh Tam - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saigon Investment Group committed that by the end of 2010, the factory will be assembled and tested in the third quarter of 2011.

However, more than a year and a half has passed, the investor has only done one thing: driving stakes and marking boundaries for this billion-dollar project. For farmers in Tan Long commune, instead of being busy with farming, they can only sit and look at the abandoned fields and feel heartbroken, because with 90 hectares of area, which used to bring people an income of over 9 billion VND each year from corn, beans, peanuts and sugarcane, now they have no income.

The land planned to build the Saigon - Tan Ky Cement and Construction Materials Industrial Park (Nghe An) is still a vacant lot.

Without land for production, nor compensation as the investor had committed, many farming households in Tan Long commune, Tan Ky district are facing difficulties in life. Although the District People's Committee has repeatedly sent written proposals and contacted the company to continue investing, there have been no results. In early 2011, the District People's Committee proposed to the Provincial People's Committee and the Provincial People's Committee organized a conference inviting the District People's Committee and the company to attend, but for some unknown reason the company was absent.

Currently, the local government and the local people want the investor to have a definitive answer. If the project continues, it is necessary to quickly compensate for land clearance so that people can change their jobs and careers according to the proposed policy, and at the same time, start construction soon to create trust for the local government and people. If not, it is necessary to quickly carry out procedures to return the production land to farmers according to legal procedures.

CTV