Beginning next year, districts will be responsible for managing parks and trees, and the HCM City People’s Committee will invite competitive bids from the districts to explain how they would maintain green spaces. — Photo thanhnien.vn

HCM CITY — Beginning next year, districts will be responsible for managing parks and trees, and the HCM City People’s Committee will invite competitive bids from the districts to explain how they would maintain green spaces. 

It is one of new policies of the HCM City authorities starting at the beginning of 2018, the Tuổi trẻ (Youth) newspaper reported.

Currently, the parks and trees are managed by the HCM City Parks and Greenery One Member Co Ltd. The municipal authorities want to improve the quality of work on the public greenspaces and believe that dividing the work among a larger number of players will improve oversight for each park, according to the paper.

Typically, the HCM City People’s Committee assigned the District 1 People’s Committee to manage the Bạch Đằng Port, 23/9 and 30/4 parks. Earlier the district people’s committee had a plan to turn the Bạch Đằng Port Park into a market every weekend to serve local residents and tourists.

Twelve districts will join the bidding process, including District 2, 7, 9, 12, Tân Phú, Tân Bình, Thủ Đức and Cần Giờ.

 The Tao Đàn, Gia Định and Lê Văn Tám districts will temporarily not join the tender to prepare for the Tết (Lunar New Year) flower festival this year. The three parks will join the tender in the beginning of April.

Residents’ expectation

Quang Văn Hòa, a resident who lives in Ward 10, District 4 and often goes to the 23/9 Park, said that a park should be a place that everybody, rich and poor alike, could enjoy during their leisure time.

He proposed setting up a more airy, quiet atmosphere and space with lots of green trees in the park.

Nguyễn Thị Bạch Vân lives in District 1 and has gone to the Tao Đàn Park for morning exercises for the past 20 years.

However, she said she felt quite afraid because no management organisation kept close watch on security and safety in the park. Sometimes rotten tree branches fell down into people below.

Vân said that safety at the park should be considered the most important thing.

Hoàng Kim Giang, an architect, said that the most attractive aspect of a park was a friendly atmosphere for people.

Earlier, the municipal authorities destroyed fences in the park to create a more friendly atmosphere.

Trịnh Kiểm, an official of the Việt Nam Parks and Green Trees Association, agreed to organise the bidding process to choose organisations to take care of parks and green trees.

 But he proposed that managing ancient trees should be assigned to organisations with much experience, because they not only affect the landscape, but also residents’ safety. — VNS