Nam Dan Plaza Building - an 'unsightly' building in Nam Dan town
(Baonghean.vn) - Although it is a project attracting investment from the province, Nam Dan Plaza building was illegally built without completing land procedures and construction permits issued by the authorities. Up to now, the consequences of this project have not been overcome, making it a painful thorn in the locality.
Illegal construction
Regarding the Nam Dan Plaza building, although its operation has been terminated, its Investment Certificate revoked and related legal documents canceled since 2017, it has not been able to be demolished so that the Nam Dan District People's Committee can carry out urban planning and renovation.Nghe An Newspaper just reportedin recent articles. After digging deeper, we learned that this project used to be the hope of the locality, a project that was in the province's investment attraction list, but was built without full legal procedures, without a construction permit...
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Nam Dan Plaza Building Project is located in a prime location in the center of Nam Dan town. Photo: Tien Dong |
Looking back at the past, in early 2010, Ocean Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OceanBank) sent a document requesting the People's Committee of Nghe An province to lease 2,633.70m2land at the old Nam Dan Trade Center, in Phan Boi Chau block, Nam Dan town, to implementConstruction projectNam Dan Plaza building. According to OceanBank's presentation report, the project has a total investment of 22.5 billion VND, 3 floors high, with the purpose of "building an office for Ocean Commercial Joint Stock Bank in Nghe An, providing modern financial services; guest house; service area". This project is expected to "contribute to creating a new face for the district, creating jobs for workers in Nam Dan district and neighboring areas".
Despite the fact that the land allocation procedures had not been completed and the construction permit had not been issued, in 2014, the investor still proceeded with the construction of this project. However, instead of speeding up the progress to put the project into operation soon, OceanBank repeatedly broke its promise and delayed the construction progress, even though it had committed to completing the project by December 31, 2014. That is why in 2015, 2016, and 2017, the People's Committee of Nam Dan district and interdisciplinary inspection teams repeatedly inspected and urged the investor to speed up the progress and complete the project.
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At the time of implementation, this project was built illegally without completing all legal procedures. Photo: Tien Dong |
Specifically, on September 30, 2015, the Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee issued Document No. 1562/UBND-DT to the managing unit of OceanBank (at this time, the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade) regarding the continued construction of Nam Dan Plaza building, emphasizing: "Nam Dan Plaza building is built in a prime location of Nam Dan district. This is a project that creates a highlight and face for Nam Dan town, so the government and people are very interested. Therefore, the fact that Ocean Commercial Joint Stock Bank did not organize the completion of the project has caused resentment among the officials and people of Nam Dan. In order to soon put Nam Dan Plaza building into use according to the investment commitment, Nam Dan District People's Committee requested that the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade continue to organize the construction according to the commitment. In case the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade does not continue to organize the completion of the construction to put the project into use, it is requested that the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade respond in writing so that the District People's Committee can report to the District People's Council for approval. treatment plan".
The peak of the indignation was in 2017, after the inspection, the Interdisciplinary Inspection Team of the Provincial People's Committee issued Report No. 120/BC-SKHĐT stating: "Nearly 7 years since the Investment Certificate was granted, the investor has not yet completed the procedures according to regulations... The fact that the investor has implemented construction on land without being leased land by the State and without a construction permit is not in accordance with the law; the project is being implemented too slowly, has been extended many times, the investor committed to the progress twice but did not implement it". Therefore, the Interdisciplinary Inspection Team recommended that the Provincial People's Committee consider canceling legal documents related to the project, terminating the project and revoking the granted Investment Certificate.
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Although the project has been terminated, it has not been completely resolved. Photo: Tien Dong |
Immediately afterwards, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued Decision 2364/QD.UBND dated July 2, 2017 approving the inspection results, terminating the operation of the Nam Dan Plaza Building Project, revoking the Investment Certificate and canceling related legal documents, and handling the construction work according to the provisions of law.
On April 10, 2019, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee issued Notice No. 216/TB-UBND on the Conclusion of the Provincial People's Committee Chairman, terminating the operation of the Nam Dan Plaza Building Project in Nam Dan District according to Decision No. 2364. At the same time, OceanBank was requested to promptly report to the State Bank and the Ministry of Finance to propose a plan to liquidate the project and assets according to current regulations, so that Nghe An province could direct Nam Dan District People's Committee to develop a plan to build public works to serve people in the project area.
Ambiguous
According to our verification, the State Bank of Vietnam has repeatedly directed OceanBank to study and propose solutions to handle the Nam Dan Plaza Building Project. After that, 3 solutions were proposed to handle this asset.
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Currently, the first floor of this project is being used as a car wash. Photo: Tien Dong |
The first option that OceanBank proposed is that the Provincial People's Committee allows the exchange of assets. Because according to the explanation, the OceanBank branch in Vinh has not yet invested in a working office, and is having to rent an office as its headquarters. Renting an office affects business operations because the rental cost often has to be adjusted to increase annually according to the partner's request, or from market pressure, as well as the lack of stability when the partner does not continue to rent when the contract expires. Therefore, it is possible to propose a plan to ask the Provincial People's Committee for permission to exchange assets (houses and land) in Vinh city to use as the working office of the Vinh branch.
The second option proposed by this bank is that OceanBank transfers project assets to local management and handling according to the principle of transferring project assets in their original state. This content was proposed and suggested by the Department of Planning and Investment in the working session on April 5, 2019 with the leaders of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee.
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A coffee shop has sprung up on the first floor of the Nam Dan Plaza Building Project. Photo: Tien Dong |
In addition, OceanBank also proposed a third option, which is to liquidate the project and assets on the land. However, this option is said to face more obstacles due to problems related to related parties such as Ocean Group Joint Stock Company (OGC). It is known that the cost that OceanBank has invested in this project is 7 billion 599,114,955 VND.
It has been nearly 5 years since the decision to terminate the Nam Dan Plaza Building Project, but the handling of this asset has not been completed.
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The perspective of the Nam Dan Complex urban, commercial and hotel area at the old headquarters of the agencies was established by a unit but did not come true due to the Nam Dan Plaza Building Project. Photo: Tien Dong |
Mr. Nguyen Hong Son - Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee said: Although the Provincial People's Committee has organized a working session with both OceanBank and the State Bank of Vietnam, and the relevant parties have also agreed to terminate the Nam Dan Plaza Building Project. However, up to now, the handling is still at a standstill, affecting the overall development plan of the locality. Not to mention, Nam Dan District People's Committee has also repeatedly given written opinions but has not received any response.
It can be seen that the illegal construction of the Nam Dan Plaza Building Project by OceanBank in 2014 was a matter of public outrage. It is even more outrageous that this project has become a thorn in the development of Nam Dan district for many years. Therefore, many opinions believe that it is necessary to take stronger measures against this project, even forcing and demolishing it if the management unit refuses to handle it.