Right in the central area, on the main road Mai Thuc Loan of Cua Lo town, there are 2 vacant lots with rows of collapsed level 4 houses, broken corrugated iron fences, bushes, trash... According to officials and people here, those are workers' hostel projects!
In mid-August 2022, when the People's Committee of Cua Lo town was planning to clear the kiosks in the park area east of Binh Minh street and renovate the urban area west of Binh Minh street, we also learned about two vacant lots on Mai Thuc Loan street.
When I saw the two vacant lots, I was so surprised that I couldn't believe it. Because the two lots of land were not small in area, and were located in the center of the town. Approximately, they were only about 400-500m from the headquarters of the Town Party Committee and People's Committee of Cua Lo town; about 300m from the main road Nguyen Sinh Cung (connecting Binh Minh Street with National Highway 46); and along Mai Thuc Loan Street - a large longitudinal road, equivalent to Binh Minh Street, about 50m long.
The shape of the two plots of land is quite square, separated by a road about 10m wide that has been paved. One plot of land, half of the area is surrounded by old corrugated iron sheets, inside there are bushes growing wildly; the other half of the area, is paved with cement, erected with iron frames, covered with corrugated iron roof to become a restaurant called "Nhu Y" specializing in food and drink such as rice, porridge, pho, beer, wine. The adjacent plot of land, larger in area, is more shabby; on it is a row of old level 4 houses with peeling, cracked walls, collapsed and falling roof tiles. Also in this plot of land, there are old walls and foundations that have been demolished, bushes growing wildly on them, and have become a garbage dumping area.
Asking the people around, we learned that this place belongs to Block 1, Nghi Thu Ward. As for the two plots of land, according to them, they have been deserted for a long time. “We heard that this is land of state agencies. It seems that they planned to build a motel for workers, but it has been abandoned for a long time…”. At this time, a young man drove by. He claimed to work for a real estate company in Cua Lo town, and asked us if we were the owners of these two plots of land, then suggested that if we wanted to transfer them, his company would help.
He asked to find out the market price of the two plots of land. He kept praising the two plots of land as “rare” in Cua Lo town. “Current land prices in Cua Lo town have stagnated, fluctuating wildly, around 50-70 million VND/m2But two large plots of land with an area of thousands of square meters like this located in the center are very rare. Using them to build a hotel would be great. If you meet guests, the price could reach 100 million VND/m2.2…”. Tell him, we work for a state agency, because we have information about the situation of abandoned land in the center of Cua Lo, so we come back to grasp the reality to report to our superiors. Hearing that, he got in the car and left…
On September 14, 2022, I connected by phone with the Chairman of Nghi Thu Ward People's Committee, Mr. Cao Anh Hung, to ask about the reason why the two abandoned plots of land were abandoned. As if he had a place to pour out his heart, Mr. Hung eagerly said that the ward was having a headache because the investors refused to carry out the project, causing these two areas to become garbage dumping sites, causing pollution and loss of urban beauty. The Chairman of Nghi Thu Ward People's Committee said: "I have just taken up my duties in Nghi Thu Ward for a short time, but I know that my colleagues in the ward are often reminded and even criticized by their superiors for the garbage and unsanitary conditions in this area. Just this past summer, Nghi Thu Ward was reminded again by the Town People's Committee and the Town Party Committee. In fact, the ward also continuously inspected and organized forces to clean up the garbage. But after a few days of cleaning, new garbage appeared, making it very difficult to manage...".
Asked about the project, according to Mr. Cao Anh Hung, Nghi Thu ward did not receive any documents from the investors, so he only knew that these were worker accommodation projects of two enterprises, Nghe An Coffee - Rubber One Member Co., Ltd. and 3/2 Agricultural Industry Joint Stock Company, and this situation has existed for decades. “I know an official at Nghe An Coffee - Rubber One Member Co., Ltd., so I contacted him and reminded him that “if you ask the province to do the project, you have to do it urgently, you cannot let it be abandoned forever, becoming a garbage dumping site. If it continues like this, we will have to report to our superiors for their opinions on this project”. They received the information, but there was no movement called investment in the project…” – Mr. Hung ended the story.
On September 21, going down to Cua Lo beach to see some households voluntarily dismantling kiosks, we stopped by 2 "Workers' Rest House" projects. At this time, 2 officials of Nghi Thu Ward People's Committee, Mr. Cao Anh Hung and land and construction officer Pham Quoc Minh were also present. According to Mr. Pham Quoc Minh, the smaller plot of land has a width of 23m along Mai Thuc Loan street, with an area of about 620 m2belonging to the 3/2 Farm Workers' Rest House Project of 3/2 Agricultural and Industrial Joint Stock Company; the remaining land plot, with a width of 24.3m along Mai Thuc Loan road, area of over 940 m2is a project of Farm Guesthouse combined with restaurant services, invested by Nghe An Coffee - Rubber One Member Co., Ltd.
According to a representative of the Urban Management Department of Cua Lo Town, in 2021, the town made a list and proposed the Provincial People's Committee to direct the inspection of a number of slow-progressing projects in the area. The list included two projects of Nghe An Coffee - Rubber One Member Co., Ltd. and 3/2 Agricultural Industry Joint Stock Company. Afterwards, both of these projects were inspected by the province's interdisciplinary delegation chaired by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
By March 2022, based on the inspection team's report, the Provincial People's Committee allowed these two projects to be extended. The project of Nghe An Coffee - Rubber One Member Co., Ltd. was extended for 24 months; and the project of 3/2 Agricultural Industry Joint Stock Company was extended for the completion of the remaining procedures. At the same time, the Provincial People's Committee also assigned the People's Committee of Cua Lo town to supervise and urge investors, and report the implementation results to the Provincial People's Committee every 3 months.
However, since March 18, 2022, when the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision 1793/QD-UBND on handling projects with slow construction progress in Nghe An province, the People's Committee of Cua Lo town has not received any information from the two investors, and the two land plots for project implementation remain intact, affecting the environment and urban beautification work of the town. "The People's Committee of Cua Lo town will follow the instructions in Decision 1793/QD-UBND, and report the actual situation to the Provincial People's Committee..." - Mr. Hoang Nang Hiep, Head of the Cua Lo Urban Management Department, discussed.
Listening to Mr. Hiep's conversation, I felt sad. Regarding projects with slow progress, there are many in districts, cities and towns of the province. Although the competent authorities have inspected, reminded and urged, many projects have not changed significantly; causing waste of land resources and many consequences. As with the two projects of Nghe An Coffee - Rubber One Member Co., Ltd. and 3/2 Agricultural Industry Joint Stock Company, if this situation remains, how can the renovation work on the west side of Binh Minh Street be carried out to create a truly modern, green - clean - beautiful coastal city of Cua Lo?
