Vinh City: Slow resolution of old apartment building project

(Baonghean) - It has been 7 years since the project to resolve old collective housing in Vinh city (issued with Decision 109/QD-UBND dated September 21, 2007) was approved by the People's Committee of Nghe An province, the progress of the project is still very slow. Up to now, there is not much time left to resolve the "hot spots" in the area, however, thousands of people are still living in fear and anxiety in seriously degraded collective housing.

Residents of Nghe Tinh railway housing complex point to cracks at the foot of the wall.

Living in temporary, cramped conditions but the family's economic conditions are only for today's meals and tomorrow's meals are the main reasons given by 9 households in meetings to discuss solutions to remove obstacles in old collective housing in Trung Do ward. Of the 9 households here, only 4 households agree with the policy of dividing lots and resettling on the spot; the remaining 5 households do not agree. The family of Mr. Nguyen Van Quynh (born in 1974) is one of such families. Many years ago, Mr. Quynh was a railway repair worker, had a work accident while on duty on the railway line passing Vinh My bridge (Vinh Tan) that left his legs no longer intact. Although he regained his life from the hands of death, he had to retire with a 41% disability certificate, the 700,000 VND monthly allowance is nothing compared to the spending of a family of 4. Now, Mr. Quynh stays at home to help his wife grind flour, make rice cakes, and sell snacks every morning on Phuong Hoang Street. “I’m not complaining about poverty, I’m just saying that to let you know that my family knows the policy is right, but we can’t stand the current situation. Calculating, now that the resettlement plots are divided on the spot, each plot is about 60 square meters, each household has to worry about hundreds of millions of dong to pay land use fees, and then build a house. Even if we try, we can’t!” Mr. Quynh worries.

As a key area in the project to solve the old collective housing problem in the city, for many consecutive years, Trung Do Ward People's Committee has organized many neighborhood meetings, meetings to discuss solutions with the presence of representatives of Vinh City People's Committee leaders. The documents that have come and gone over the years have been stacked in piles and stored in file cabinets. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Huan - Chairman of Trung Do Ward People's Committee said: "In the coming time, along with propaganda and mobilization work for the people, the ward has been and will actively coordinate with departments and offices of Vinh City People's Committee to propose many solutions for the people to choose from". One of the solutions that many people have mentioned is to extend the deadline for paying land use fees, or pay in installments. If the policy comes into reality, the households in Nghe Tinh railway collective housing area affirmed that they will completely agree with the plan set forth by the government.

In Vinh City, there are 133 collective housing areas with 3,284 households, located in 16 wards and communes. Most of the collective housing areas were built before the 1990s, mainly level 4 houses, which have now seriously degraded, causing environmental pollution, affecting the daily lives of residents and the urban landscape.

Leaving the Nghe - Tinh railway dormitory, we went to the Nghe An General Hospital (GHH) dormitory in Hung Loc commune. With a total area of ​​4,290m2, the Nghe An General Hospital dormitory is currently home to 70 households. The image of empty dormitories is still there, with families of 3 or 4 generations crowded together in a floor area of ​​20m2, without a loft to solve the problem of accommodation and living, because the house structure is too old, no household "dares" to build a loft for fear of collapse! Notably, so many households with hundreds of people still line up every morning to use the shared toilet. It is impossible to describe the inconveniences, the laughter and tears of this nearly 30-year-old dormitory!

However, the people here, despite their difficult circumstances, still tried to borrow money and agreed with the City People's Committee's policy of resolving the old collective housing. Based on Decision 109/2007/QD-UBND dated September 21, 2007 of the People's Committee of Nghe An province, the collective housing area of ​​Nghe An General Hospital was planned to build high-rise apartments. Everything seemed to have gone smoothly if not for the complications that arose, that is, this collective housing area was not located on the same plot of land but was divided by Bui Huy Bich Street, divided into 2 separate areas: 1 part located in Hung Loc commune with an area of ​​3,067m2, with 54 households; 1 part located in Ha Huy Tap ward with an area of ​​1,223m2 with 16 households. Because of this division, the planning for building high-rise apartments for the Nghe An General Hospital residential area became inappropriate, leading to a prolonged resolution time.

At the time we came to investigate the matter, good news had just come to 54 households in the Nghe An General Hospital housing complex in Hung Loc commune, when the People's Committee of Hung Loc commune announced that it had received documents confirming the change in planning of the Nghe An General Hospital housing complex from building high-rise apartments to planning to divide residential land plots for households, arranging for on-site resettlement. Mr. Nguyen Duc Long - a land official of the People's Committee of Hung Loc commune said: "With the new planning, the number of plots for on-site resettlement is expected to be only enough for 34 households. The remaining 20 households will receive resettlement land at another location in the commune, possibly the Hoang Thi Loan knitting resettlement planning area in Ngu Phuc hamlet, or the land division planning area in Dong Thong, Mau Don hamlet. We are urgently carrying out related procedures to implement as soon as possible, meeting the people's wishes and the progress of settlement according to Project 109".

As for the Nghe An General Hospital housing complex in Ha Huy Tap ward, on June 24, 2014, the Vinh City People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 2965 to the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Construction, proposing a plan to divide the plots for each household with a road width of 3.2m, depth of 18.3m, and an area of ​​58.5 m2/plot to ensure enough on-site resettlement plots for 16 households in the housing complex. These changes in the planning are welcome, but also mean that 70 households in the Nghe An General Hospital housing complex must continue to wait for a new procedure. The wait here is as long as that of thousands of other people living in degraded housing complexes in the city.

It is known that after 7 years of implementation, the progress of resolving collective housing areas in the city is still slow. In the period of 2007 - 2013, only 21/133 collective housing areas were resolved; in 2014, the City People's Committee assigned the target of resolving 46 collective housing areas (35 collective housing areas in the project, 11 collective housing areas not in the project) but after 6 months, only 15 collective housing areas were basically resolved, 5 collective housing areas had not agreed on the planning and land acquisition plan, over 10 collective housing areas were lacking resettlement land fund and 5 collective housing areas were submitting for approval from the Provincial People's Committee.

Commenting on the progress of Project 109, Mr. Phan Tat Son - Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Vinh City said: "Each collective housing area has its own problems, but the common cause is that the settlement of collective housing areas involves many levels and sectors; many collective housing areas are not in accordance with the approved planning, so there must be adjustments; over time, the people do not fully store the price documents, which takes time to verify; people's lives are difficult, they are not eligible to receive land and build houses; the real estate market is frozen, investors are not interested... In the coming time, Vinh City People's Committee will actively promote measures, for collective housing areas that are not in accordance with the planning, need a large resettlement land fund, then it will submit to the Provincial People's Committee for opinions on how to meet the deadline in 2015".

Phuong Chi