Fatal Crane Collapse: Building Houses Without Land

(Baonghean.vn) - ProjectThe adjacent villa apartment complex in Block 5, Truong Thi Ward (Vinh City) has not completed the land transfer documents, but the locality and some related sectors still proposed and approved the project; the investor still proceeded with construction!

Ignore the rules

On July 25, 2015, Joint Stock Company 471 submitted a document No. 274TT.CT regarding the request to return land before the deadline and the contract for sale of assets on land between Joint Stock Company 471 and Truong Thanh Company Limited. The land plots that Joint Stock Company 471 requested to return are the land plots that Nghe An Provincial People's Committee leased to Joint Stock Company 471 with annual payment in Decision No. 721.QD-UBND.DC dated December 16, 2014 and were granted land use right certificates in order as BY 969917 with an area of ​​947.7m2, BY 969918 with an area of ​​302.6m2, BY 969919 with an area of ​​1669.3m2 in Block 5, Truong Thi Ward (Vinh City). On that basis, on September 16, 2015, Truong Thanh Company Limited submitted document No. 106/TT.CT requesting to re-lease the land paid by 471 Joint Stock Company to invest in the construction of apartments and townhouses.

To be reasonable, Truong Thanh Company Limited has made a record to collect opinions from households living around the project. According to this record, 100% of households agreed. However, this record does not include the opinion of the representative of Le Viet Thuat High School (adjacent to the West and South of the project).

Document to collect opinions from households about the project of Truong Thanh Company Limited

On March 1, 2016, the People's Committee of Truong Thi Ward issued Document No. 33/UBND-TT (signed by Chairman of the People's Committee Nguyen Tat Thien), recommending: "Since being granted the land, Joint Stock Company 471 has not effectively operated the land, becoming a place to collect construction waste, wild grass and trees, the local people have many disagreements, on the other hand, the business of Company 471 has been losing money, so Joint Stock Company 471 has transferred all assets attached to 3 land plots to Truong Thanh Company Limited. Therefore, in order to promote the use value of the land and be consistent with the general planning of Vinh City, the People's Committee of Truong Thi Ward considers that the conversion of the purpose of using this land to invest in the construction of apartment buildings and townhouses is consistent with urban planning and legal regulations. The People's Committee of the Ward requests competent authorities to consider and resolve this issue."

On March 9, 2016, Vinh City People's Committee issued Document No. 861/UBND-QLDT "Regarding the investment project to build an apartment and townhouse complex in Truong Thi Ward, Vinh City by Truong Thanh Company Limited", signed by the Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee, with the recommendation "The conversion of the above-mentioned land plots from service business land to residential land for the construction of apartments and townhouses is consistent with the land use planning of Vinh City... In order to effectively exploit land funds, avoid wasting land resources, increase housing funds for urban areas and contribute to budget revenue, Vinh City People's Committee agrees with the proposal of Truong Thanh Company Limited and the opinion of Truong Thi Ward People's Committee to build a housing complex at the above-mentioned land plot locations".

In the above documents, both Truong Thi Ward and Vinh City People's Committee did not mention that this high-rise commercial apartment project was built right next to Le Viet Thuat High School, and claimed that this project was "in accordance with Vinh City's land use planning" and "does not affect the surrounding environment".

Proposal of Le Viet Thuat High School about the project

No land… still building a house!

On March 11, 2016, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment issued document 1135, recommending that “The above project is not consistent with the Vinh City Land Use Plan approved by the Provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 1759/QD-UBND dated April 29, 2010. However, currently, districts, cities and towns in Nghe An province are adjusting land use plans until 2020 and the final land use plan (2016-2020), so if the Provincial People's Committee agrees, the above project will be added and adjusted to the Vinh City land use plan for submission to the Provincial People's Committee for approval”.

In the above document, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment also proposed steps to implement this project such as: Completing the land lease dossier, submitting it to the Provincial People's Committee to issue a land lease decision; after being leased land by the Provincial People's Committee, Truong Thanh Company Limited registers its land use needs, coordinates with relevant agencies to establish procedures to transfer the land use purpose to implement the Project.

Previously, on March 9, 2016, the Department of Construction issued document No. 416 stating that "The adjustment of the planning of the above-mentioned land areas from office land to residential land (high-rise apartment buildings and low-rise houses) is acceptable".

On March 16, 2016, the Department of Planning and Investment sent document 431 to the People's Committee of Nghe An province with the opinion that "The proposed project is consistent with the land use planning of Vinh city approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 49/2015/QD-TTg dated January 14, 2015".

On that basis, on March 24, 2016, the Provincial People's Committee issued Document No. 1190/QD.UBND-XD (signed by Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Huynh Thanh Dien), approving the investment policy and permitting the planning of the construction of a commercial apartment and townhouse project in Block 5, Truong Thi Ward, Vinh City, Nghe An. This document states that "The project can only commence when the investor has completed all procedures and conditions according to the provisions of law on investment in housing development, land, real estate business construction planning... and has been approved by competent authorities according to regulations".

Detailed planning 1/500 for apartment and townhouse project in block 5, Truong Thi ward

While the land plots that Truong Thanh Company Limited requested to lease from 471 Joint Stock Company to invest in building apartments and townhouses are still under the use of 471 Joint Stock Company, on March 28, 2016, Truong Thanh Company Limited made a request for appraisal and approval of the detailed construction plan at a scale of 1/5000 for the apartment building - townhouses.

On May 4, 2016, Vinh City People's Committee issued document 1874 agreeing with the Proposal of Truong Thanh Company Limited and "requesting Nghe An Provincial People's Committee and Department of Construction to review, appraise and decide to let Truong Thanh Company Limited carry out the next steps".

Then, on May 25, 2016, the Department of Construction issued Document No. 1095, concluding that “The planning dossier appraised by the investor meets the requirements according to current regulations of Decree No. 37/2010/ND.CP dated April 7, 2010 of the Government on construction planning. The Department of Construction appraises the dossier according to the above content and respectfully submits it to the Provincial People's Committee for approval so that relevant agencies and investors can implement it”.

Based on the advice of relevant levels and sectors, on May 31, 2016, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision 2443/QD.UBND (signed by Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Huynh Thanh Dien), approving the detailed construction plan at a scale of 1/500 for the apartment complex - adjacent villas in Block 5, Truong Thi Ward, Vinh City.

In fact, the recommendations and decisions on approving the investment policy, allowing the project establishment and approving the detailed planning of 1/500 of the adjacent villa apartment complex in Block 5, Truong Thi Ward, Vinh City are not in accordance with regulations, because the land plots that Truong Thanh Company Limited requested to establish the project are still under the use rights of Joint Stock Company 471.

On October 20, 2016, the Provincial People's Committee issued document 7979, stating "Stop implementing Decision No. 1190/QD.UBND-XD dated April 23, 2016".

On November 11, 2016, the Provincial People's Committee continued to issue Decision 5622/QD-UBND (signed by Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Huynh Thanh Dien), canceling Decision No. 1190/QD.UBND-XD dated April 23, 2016 and Decision No. 2443/QD.UBND dated May 31, 2016, for the reason that "the issuance was not in accordance with regulations".

During the implementation process, this project also had many violations of construction order. On July 18, 2016, the People's Committee of Truong Thi Ward fined the project investor for violating construction order because "he arbitrarily poured 2 concrete pillars to make the tower crane's legs on the sidewalk". On August 4, 2016, the People's Committee of Truong Thi Ward sent document No. 1613 to the competent authorities to request that the project was implementing the foundation construction but the safety and protection measures were still sketchy....

The project has been under construction since July 2016.

With the “putting the cart before the horse” of Truong Thanh Company Limited, the “overthinking” of the locality and related departments in consulting. The project of the adjacent villa apartment complex in block 5, Truong Thi ward (Vinh city) was built without a license and on November 14, 2016, a heartbreaking accident occurred at this project, when the tower bridge collapsed into the yard of Le Viet Thuat High School, killing a student on the spot.

Regarding the above incident, on November 15, 2016, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 8752, sent to relevant levels and sectors to direct "investigation to clarify the incident and strictly handle it according to the provisions of law".

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