Director of Nghe An Department of Construction answers questions and proposes solutions to overcome shortcomings in planning and management.

At the question and answer session, Director of the Department of Construction Nguyen Truong Giang reported on an overview of planning, planning management, and construction order management in the province in recent times.

Eight delegates of the Provincial People's Council raised 11 questions and debates; the Director of the Department of Construction, the Director of the Department of Transport, and the Vice Chairman of the Vinh City People's Committee discussed, explained, received, and answered the questions and debates.

Director of the Department of Construction Nguyen Truong Giang reports on planning, planning management, and construction order management in the province. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Inadequate management of planning of apartment buildings

Opening the questioning session, delegate Nguyen Duy Can - Vinh City Delegation cited shortcomings in some apartment buildings in Vinh City, requesting the Director of the Department of Construction to clarify the responsibility of the industry in advising on planning and construction management in apartment buildings in the area.

“Many apartment buildings in the city do not follow the original planning, there are adjustments leading to a situation where there are no community living areas, entertainment areas, green areas, unsafe parking lots, cars are parked on the streets making it difficult for fire trucks to enter when a fire or explosion occurs, affecting people's lives” - delegate Can reflected.

Delegate Nguyen Duy Can (Vinh city) questioned the planning management of apartment buildings in Vinh city. Photo: Thanh Cuong

In addition, delegate Can also reflected on the management of construction order, the new urban area project Cua Tien (Danatol) is allowed to be built close to the Vinh river embankment, but people's houses must be 8m away from the Vinh river embankment to be built.

Responding to the question of delegate Nguyen Duy Can, Director of the Department of Construction Nguyen Truong Giang admitted that the shortcomings in planning and planning management in some apartment buildings in Vinh city were partly the responsibility of the Department of Construction. In 2017, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council assigned the Provincial People's Committee to review the inadequate apartment building plans. Since then, the Department has advised the Provincial People's Committee to reduce the construction of 8 apartment buildings in the inner city.

Delegate Nguyen Hong Son (Ky Son district) questioned the lack of synchronization and unity in implementing planning. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Regarding solutions in the coming time, Mr. Giang said that the Department will advise the Provincial People's Committee and coordinate with the Vinh City People's Committee to expand urban space, creating new urban areas including quality apartment buildings to "decompress" population density for the central urban area.

Regarding the management of construction order for the Cua Tien New Urban Area project (Danatol), the shortcomings that delegates and voters reflected, "The Department of Construction recognizes the responsibility of the industry on planning issues and is a lesson for future projects to avoid similar situations. Recently, the Vinh City People's Committee also submitted a project to build embankments along both sides of the Vinh River, but it cannot be completely resolved, only partially resolved" - Mr. Giang said.

Delegate Hoang Manh Ha (Nghi Loc) said that the work of announcing and publicizing construction planning is still a formality. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Clarifying the shortcomings in the planning and management of apartment buildings, Mr. Le Sy Chien - Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee said that Vinh City has a project to manage apartment buildings and urban areas in the area. The preliminary results of the project's 5-year implementation show that some apartment projects lack living space, parking lots, trees, etc.

“To overcome these shortcomings, Vinh City People's Committee is coordinating with investors and wards and communes to gradually overcome these shortcomings. However, the problem is that administrative procedures are facing many difficulties when adjusted. We request that competent authorities create favorable conditions to quickly resolve the problems so that investors can overcome these limitations. At the same time, the locality hopes that when appraising projects, attention should be paid to the architecture and infrastructure quality of the projects,” Mr. Le Sy Chien suggested.

Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee Le Sy Chien further clarified the issue of state management in apartment buildings. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Lack of synchronization and feasibility

Answering the question of delegate Nguyen Hong Son - Ky Son district delegation when there has been a lack of synchronization and unity in the implementation of planning in the past, Mr. Giang said that the lack of synchronization and unity is mainly in urban planning, construction planning and land use planning, because construction planning must comply with the Construction Law, land use planning is based on the provisions of the Land Law. These two laws are independent so there is a lack of unity. The Government will conduct a review to overcome this shortcoming.

Explaining the opinion of delegate Hoang Manh Ha (Nghi Loc), he asked: Currently, the work of announcing and publicizing construction planning is still formal and not specific; there is no organization of marking in the field; construction capital, granting planning permits, granting planning certificates and providing planning information in the past time is still limited, leading to the situation where people do not fully understand the planning. Please let us know the causes and solutions in the coming time.

Regarding this content, the Director of the Department of Construction said that according to the Law on Planning, after the planning is developed, it must be publicly announced in the localities implementing the planning and the planning management agencies. Basically, the zoning plans and general plans are announced by the localities, however, the announcement of planning on the internet is still limited because it is not possible to digitize the planning, and to digitize it requires a large cost, so in the coming time, the construction industry also hopes to allocate resources to digitize the planning so that people and businesses can access the planning more easily.

Delegate Tran Phan Long (Cua Lo) mentioned: The situation of suspended planning causes many difficulties affecting the people. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Regarding the situation of suspended planning as mentioned by delegate Tran Phan Long (Cua Lo): The situation of suspended planning has caused many difficulties affecting the people. Many projects have rented land for decades but have not been implemented, implemented not on schedule as committed but not recovered, hindering the development of Cua Lo town. The Director of the Department of Construction explained that in planning there are many levels, general planning, zoning planning with long-term plans of 5 years, 10 years, and a vision of 50 years.

Therefore, when planning comes to the time to implement the planning, it is longer. Meanwhile, the public investment work has been tightened recently, so the implementation of investment according to the planning is limited. This leads to the suspended planning as mentioned by the delegate. Recently, the Department has advised the Provincial People's Committee and localities to review and adjust the planning.

Delegates attending the question and answer session. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Regarding slow-progressing projects affecting the development of Cua Lo town, the Provincial People's Council recently supervised the topic of suspended projects and slow-progressing projects in the area, pointed out slow-progressing projects and recommended the Provincial People's Committee to direct relevant agencies to include these projects in the inspection implementation plan and have a handling plan in 2022-2023.

Answering the question of delegate Nguyen Thi Theu - Tan Ky district delegation about the new rural planning that has expired but has not been adjusted, Mr. Giang said that recently the National Assembly has seen this inadequacy and issued Resolution 61 and allowed the extension of the 2011-2020 planning period until the issuance of a new planning, which means that the new rural planning for the 2011-2020 period is still valid and continues to be implemented. However, there are previous plans whose quality does not meet current development requirements, so it is recommended that localities make adjustments to suit the practical situation.

During the questioning session this afternoon, the Director of the Department of Construction also clarified the causes and responsibilities for the situation of multiple planning adjustments; solutions to speed up the progress of district planning and zoning planning; plans to handle construction works on land that has not been permitted for construction...

Director of the Department of Transport Hoang Phu Hien further clarified the planning of National Highway 48E through Tan Ky town. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Strengthening state management

Concluding the question-and-answer session, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Nam Dinh requested the Provincial People's Committee to continue to pay attention to and strictly direct the implementation of current regulations on urban planning, construction and development; review, reduce, supplement and amend regulations, instructions and procedures in accordance with the province's reality.

Along with that, the Provincial People's Committee is requested to speed up the progress of establishing and submitting for approval the Nghe An Provincial Planning for the period 2021-2030 with a vision to 2050 and the inter-district and district construction planning; urban planning; land use planning; investing in the construction of a modern and synchronous infrastructure system. In particular, priority is given to water supply, drainage, environmental treatment, cemeteries, infrastructure and civilized urban landscapes, and clean and beautiful new rural areas.

The process of establishing and appraising all types of planning requires selecting consulting units with sufficient legal status, capacity, and experience in technology and finance; paying attention to allocating planning funds; organizing to collect opinions from the community and feedback from social and professional organizations to promote democracy, ensuring feasibility and sustainability.

At the same time, strengthen the review of approved planning types to promptly adjust, supplement, and amend appropriately; effectively publicize and mark the field of newly approved and adjusted planning.

Closely manage and monitor development principles, land use planning indicators, social infrastructure, technical infrastructure, and architecture; ensure the synchronous construction of social and technical infrastructure systems, and connect the common infrastructure network of the locality and neighboring areas.

Balance resources and medium-term public investment plans to annually allocate sufficient capital for complete and synchronous investment in technical and social infrastructure systems in urban areas; prioritize key projects, driving forces to attract investment and develop the economy and society.

Comrade Nguyen Nam Dinh - Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council concluded the questioning session. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The Provincial People's Council also requested the Provincial People's Committee to strengthen the inspection and supervision of planning, management, construction activities and construction order; strictly and promptly handle violations. Pay attention to training and coaching to improve the quality of the team working in planning and construction order management; ensure that these activities are effective, efficient, of high quality, meeting the requirements of practical management...

At the same time, report the results of implementing the conclusions of the questioning session at the regular meeting of the Provincial People's Council at the end of 2022.