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Hà Nội People’s Committee Chairman Nguyễn Đức Chung on Wednesday confirmed there was no plan to replace the old trees around Hoàn Kiếm Lake. — Photo thanhnien.vn |
Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội People’s Committee Chairman Nguyễn Đức Chung on Wednesday denied rumours that the city was planning to replace the trees around the symbolic Hoàn Kiếm Lake.
Speaking at a hearing of the Hà Nội People’s Council, Chung said the authorities “never proposed to replace trees around the Gươm (Hoàn Kiếm) Lake but only to modify the surroundings and clean the lake water.”
The original renovation plan, which previously raised concerns from the city folks following rumours of the beloved trees being felled, was to dredge the lake, reinstall the decoration lights and relay the pavements with natural stone tiles.
“The city will make the whole plan public so that the citizens can closely scrutinise its implementation,” he said.
Hoàn Kiếm District People’s Committee on Wednesday also slammed the rumours, saying there was no tree replacement proposal in its Gươm Lake renovation plan submitted to the Ministry of Construction in June.
In its response to the plan, the ministry noted that any tree replacement should specify the location and any new trees planted on the roads around the lake must be uniform in species.
This response misled the citizens and scientists, prompting them to believe that the city had plans to replace the old trees surrounding the lake.
Hoàn Kiếm authorities said that with regard to planting new trees, its plan only had designs for grass, flowerbeds and coloured plants to be planted around the lake.
Such decorative planting is normal, particularly before the Tết holiday and other holiday events, they added. — VNS