Holding onto land and stalled projects.

(Baonghean)Currently, many industrial zones and projects have compensated for land clearance and reclaimed agricultural land from farmers, but this land remains unused and vacant for many years. Meanwhile, farmers lack land for cultivation, resulting in a significant waste of a national resource.

However, it is also necessary to recognize the difference between reserving land for future projects according to the plan and projects that have been allocated land but not implemented (stalled projects).

Preserving land according to planning as a future land reserve is essential. If we don't do this well, in the future there will be no advantageous land available for large projects. Recently, although the National Assembly has not yet approved the North-South high-speed railway project, the Government has already planned to reserve land for this project. This is a necessary and responsible action, demonstrating the Government's strategic vision. In fact, in recent years, some major cities have had to build some of the most expensive roads on the planet due to excessively high land compensation costs. Some figures show that highways in Vietnam cost twice as much as in the rest of the world, mainly due to land compensation costs. However, to avoid wasting national resources, while there are no investment projects in the planned land reserves, it is advisable to allow people to continue farming in those areas under suitable agreements so that land acquisition can be easily carried out when a project is underway.

In cases where businesses lack the financial capacity but still apply for land to develop projects, with the aim of retaining the land, this is a reprehensible act and the land must be reclaimed if they fail to fulfill their commitments made during the project. This is the only way to prevent speculation, subleasing, and private profiteering. The conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land is an objective requirement. The key is to use the land efficiently and avoid waste.

We would like to discuss some issues that do not directly contribute to economic growth, but play an important indirect role in economic growth, social development, and social welfare in Vinh City and Nghe An province (these issues can also be considered for other cities).

- Open more transportation routes. While funding is still limited, planning must be done immediately, including for spontaneously formed roads with a rural appearance, winding and interspersed within residential areas in the current wards. While funding is still insufficient, planning is crucial, and ideally, resources should be allocated to clear the area as soon as possible, because the longer the process drags on, the more difficult and costly it becomes.

- Planning and constructing a good drainage system, clean water supply system, and electricity system throughout the city is crucial to avoid excessive demolition and reconstruction, which leads to waste, loss of urban aesthetics, flooding, water shortages, and power outages and fires, issues that have occurred over the years.

- Build central parking areas in each ward to prevent the situation where, in a few years, the number of cars increases and there are no parking spaces, forcing them to park on the streets, causing traffic accidents and congestion like in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City today.

- No industrial projects will be approved along the Lam River embankment, especially the section from Ben Thuy Bridge to Cua Hoi, and this area will be reserved for ecotourism, similar to what Da Nang City has done along the Han River.

- Increase the number of garbage disposal points and build public restrooms in the city, using a model where the State invests and private companies manage and maintain them, similar to Japan, which currently has the best public sanitation system in the world.

- Plant more trees and green spaces in the city, especially in vacant lots. Instead of filling in and reclaiming land from the remaining lakes, clean up the area and dedicate more land to planting trees and creating small parks in line with green architecture, thus creating "green lungs" for the city, similar to some countries around the world.

These are necessary steps to elevate Vinh City to the status of a first-class urban center, the economic, cultural, and educational hub of the North Central region, as concluded by the Politburo in recent years.

Dr. Duong Xuan Thao (Principal of Nghe An College of Technology and Engineering)