HCM City turns blind eye to street use

Vendors encroach on Le Thi Hong Gam Street in HCM City, leaving little or no room for pedestrians. — VNS Photo Doan Tung

HCM CITY — Just 4 per cent of cases involving the illegal use of pavements and roads for doing business and parking vehicles in HCM City are punished, according to inspectors with the Ministry of Transport.

Of 2,500 violations recorded from January 2011 to March 2012, city authorities have only punished 110, or 4.4 per cent, it said.

The inspectorate's conclusions, released Tuesday, followed three months of working with relevant city departments and agencies to review the management of pavement and road use.

Many streets in districts 1 and 5 have been allowed to use part of their pavements and roadways for parking vehicles but many vehicle keepers were using up more than the permitted areas, it said.

Some vehicle parking sites in District 1 use more than two meters of pavement width, with some in District 5 use up to five meters.

Under the current regulations, the use of pavement space for other purposes is allowed for a maximum of two meters.

Thach Nhu Sy, deputy head of the inspectorate, said the illegal use of pavements and roads was a direct reason for traffic congestion and disorder.

However, competent agencies in the city have not paid enough attention to punishing violations in this regard, he said.

Managing the use of pavements and roads for other purposes should be the task of one agency, the Department of Transport, he said.

Under a Prime Minister approved zoning plan, the city will have 1,414ha for vehicle parking by 2025, but the city People's Committee has only identified 561ha so far.

Each district has detailed zoning plans for car parking lots, but some districts have used the allocated land for other purposes, the inspectors found.

They said about 73 per cent of the city's buildings do not have sufficient parking space and 7.5 per cent do not have any parking space at all.

Some buildings were using their basements for other purposes instead of parking and the city needed to monitor this strictly, they said.

The inspectors also recommended that the municipal administration grant construction licenses only for buildings that have sufficient parking space. — VNS