Restore order in management and implementation of urban land projects

(Baonghean) - Regarding urban land projects, adjacent villas and apartment buildings (abbreviated as housing business projects), people and voters have long reported many issues to elected representatives. Recently, the Provincial People's Council has supervised the management and implementation of a number of urban projects in the province and thereby pointed out many shortcomings and inadequacies that need to be resolved soon.

Residents at Loc Chau high-rise apartment building (Cua Lo town) reported to the monitoring delegation of the Provincial People's Council. Photo: Mai Hoa

Reality exists, shortcomings

Up to now, the province has 166 urban housing business projects licensed for investment. Of these, 66 projects have been implemented and 26 projects have completed or partially completed the project and put into use.

It is undeniable that housing business projects have contributed to improving urban architecture and landscape; increasing land use efficiency, increasing land use revenue; solving the needs and improving better housing conditions for many people in some localities, especially Vinh city.

However, through monitoring the management and implementation of urban land projects in the province at a number of projects in Vinh city, Cua Lo town and recent working sessions with the People's Committee of Vinh city, Cua Lo town, a number of departments, branches and the Provincial People's Committee, the Provincial People's Council has pointed out many shortcomings and limitations in the management of urban projects in the province.

It is not difficult to point out the small-scale apartment investment projects, interspersed in residential areas, causing great pressure on the infrastructure system in Vinh City, such as PVLAND 2 apartment building (Hung Binh ward); Kim Truong Thi Commercial Center and Apartment project (Truong Thi ward)... Then there is the situation of many housing business projects having their planning adjusted, not just once, twice, even three to four times.

Through direct supervision of a number of projects, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council has recorded the reality that the quality of the Glory apartment building in Vinh city is not guaranteed. Photo courtesy

It is worth mentioning that most of the adjustments are in a direction that benefits investors, such as increasing floors, increasing construction area, changing the purpose of public use area to subdivide and sell land, reducing green space and other living conditions of residents.

To cite an example, Mr. Ho Phuc Hop - Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, Head of the Provincial People's Council's Culture and Social Affairs Department, cited the project of a complex of commercial centers, high-rise hotels, offices for rent, high-rise apartments and townhouses invested by Construction Joint Stock Company No. 9.1 (in Quan Bau ward, Vinh city), which has an apartment building with an initial planning of 15 floors, later adjusted to 20 floors, meaning an increase in the number of people in the project area; meanwhile, the initial planning from the traffic system to the parking lot, including the elevator system, was only suitable for the scale of residents according to the initial planning, so it affected the use of public areas such as internal traffic, parking, green areas, etc.

The situation of projects being slow to implement, unfinished to implement, and behind schedule still occurs frequently. Of the total 166 projects licensed for investment, 100 projects are behind schedule or not implemented. Raising the issue of low project implementation rate, Mr. Cao Tien Trung - Deputy Head of the Economic - Budget Committee of the Provincial People's Council said that many investors were simultaneously licensed for many projects but all were behind schedule; there were investors who did not have financial capacity and previously licensed projects that did not show clear effectiveness, but continued to be licensed for projects later.

Mr. Trung gave an example of the Vietnam - Laos Economic Cooperation Company which has 4 licensed projects, of which 3 projects were approved for planning in 2010 and 1 project was approved in 2013; but up to now, only the high-rise apartment project combined with a commercial center in Quan Bau ward has been completed and put into use, a part of the project including 58/59 low-rise houses; 3 projects have not yet started construction.

The issue that voters and people have been concerned about for a long time, related to the issuance of land use right certificates (LURCs) and housing ownership rights (HOCs), has also been thoroughly evaluated by the Provincial People's Council. Up to this point, the rate of granting LURCs to households receiving land transfers for adjacent projects and villas has only reached 37.35% and the rate of granting LURCs to apartment transferees has only reached 48.49%.

At the same time, the quality and lifespan of some apartments are limited. A typical example is Glory Palace Apartment (Truong Thi Ward, Vinh City) invested by Vinh Urban Development Joint Stock Company (Vinh LanD), after only 3 years of use, the tiled floor system in the apartments and hallways is peeling; windows in some apartments are not guaranteed, water floods into the rooms when it rains; sanitary facilities in some apartments are degraded and damaged; elevators often malfunction.

In addition, a series of projects in Vinh City such as social housing in Le Loi Ward; Tan Phuc Apartment (Vinh Tan Ward); CTA Apartment in Nghi Phu Urban Area; Vicentra Apartment (Quang Trung Ward) ..., also have the situation of some places of ceiling paint being moldy, blistering or water leaking in the basement floor, some places of ceiling roof are leaking, and the surrounding walls are cracked. The administrative management of apartment buildings is still neglected.

Although the 2014 Housing Law stipulates that it is mandatory to establish a Management Board, an Apartment Building Management Board to act as a bridge between apartment users and investors in managing, using, operating, maintaining apartment buildings and protecting the legal rights of apartment users...; but, in reality, out of 59 completed apartment projects put into use in the province, only 10 apartment buildings have established a Management Board.

Need to resolutely find solutions to restore management order

Regarding the management of housing business projects in the province, it is the responsibility of many levels and sectors. For example, the appraisal and consulting on investment licensing belongs to the Department of Planning and Investment; the planning and construction quality consulting work belongs to the Department of Construction; finance and tax belong to the Department of Finance and the Tax Department; land allocation and issuance of land use right certificates belong to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment; urban order management, administrative management of apartment buildings belong to the district level; handling of violations belongs to the authority of the Provincial People's Committee. To create a change in management work, especially to overcome the existing shortcomings and inadequacies, each sector and locality, based on their authority and responsibility, needs to take more drastic action.

To restore order in the management of housing business projects, Mr. Le Van Ngoc - Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Council said that the Provincial People's Committee needs to build a database of land for all housing business projects, on that basis, evaluate, review and propose appropriate development plans, at the same time organize regular and surprise inspections and strictly handle violations.

According to Mr. Ngoc, in addition to the responsibility of regular maintenance of the works of the investors, the Provincial People's Committee needs to have regulations binding the investors with commitments on the "warranty" period for the quality of the works to avoid the rapid deterioration of some apartment buildings as at present, and during the "warranty" period if there is damage, the investor is responsible for spending a certain amount of money to fix it, not just from 2% of the maintenance source.

Direct supervision at Golden City I urban project. Photo archive

Proposing to improve the quality of investor capacity assessment, limiting unfinished or unimplemented investment projects, Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Xuan Duc said: Although the law does not stipulate, the Department of Planning and Investment has advised the Provincial People's Committee to seek opinions from the Department of Finance and the Tax Department in the process of assessing the investor's capacity to avoid cases where the investor reports different financial statements to the Tax Department and the Department of Planning and Investment; at the same time, combine the results of the project feasibility assessment and mortgaged assets from credit institutions.

Regarding the problems in granting land use right certificates and house ownership certificates, there are currently many reasons: there are many plots of land in urban projects where houses have not been built yet, so they are not eligible for certificates; some transferees owe money to investors and some investors owe tax obligations to the State; there are even projects where investors are mortgaging the entire project's certificate to the bank; in some cases, houses are built against the design...

Therefore, according to Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee Le Sy Chien, the Provincial People's Committee needs to have a meeting with sectors, localities and investors to have a plan to remove the difficulties and problems that are arising, in which the responsibilities of each level and each unit are clearly assigned.

Based on the results of the monitoring work, Comrade Nguyen Xuan Son - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council requested the Provincial People's Committee to step in to inspect and examine all urban projects in the province, thereby having a plan to thoroughly handle the existing problems and difficulties related to land allocation, land lease, quality management of apartment buildings, granting certificates of land use rights, house ownership rights and assets on land in urban projects...

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Council also pointed out that the process of project appraisal requires strict implementation of investment preparation work, especially appraisal of the financial capacity of the investor, and does not accept investors who do not meet the financial capacity requirements. Regarding the adjustment of project planning, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Council requires ensuring that the green area and public works that have been previously approved are not reduced.

The Provincial People's Committee also needs to direct the focus on reviewing and urging investors to speed up the completion of projects; resolutely terminate activities of projects that are not implemented or are behind schedule according to the provisions of law; inspect and punish investors who do not fulfill their commitments, affecting the rights of transferees in the projects...

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