HÀ NỘI — Six years have passed but many residents in Hà Nội’s Đống Đa District have still not been resettled after their land was revoked as part of the city’s plan to build a park in the district, the Vietnam News Agency reports.

Work on the technical infrastructure for Ba Mẫu Lake Park started in 2011.

To make space for the park, 14 households in Phương Liên and Trung Phụng Wards transferred their land to the project investor.

They were then allowed to move to a resettlement area in Phương Liên Ward. Eight households received the land allocated and built houses to settle there.

However, the remaining six households have not yet been resettled because their allocated land was illegally appropriated by other people, forcing them to live temporarily in other areas and face a number of difficulties.

“I am 84 years old now. Since my family gave our land to the local authorities for the construction of the project in 2012, our living conditions have deteriorated,” said Nguyễn Thị Uy, a resident in Trung Phụng Ward.

“We have no land to build a house, so our extended family of four generations has to live temporarily in a communal house in Trung Phụng Ward,” she said.

Nguyễn Văn Long, a resident in Phương Liên Ward, said although they received a decision from authorities on the land allocation six years ago they have not yet received the land.

“We were willing to transfer our land to local authorities so they could build the public project, but our new allocated land was illegally appropriated by other people. We had to live temporarily with friends or relatives,” he said.

“We sent petitions to local authorities at different levels many times but nothing has changed,” he noted.

The project to upgrade Ba Mẫu Lake in Đống Đa District was initiated in 1990 but then was delayed, turning the lake into a pollution hotspot with rampant land appropriation.  

In 2010, Hà Nội authorities approved a plan to renew the project and build and complete technical infrastructure for Ba Mẫu Lake Park.

The project started in 2011 with total investment capital of VNĐ12.2 billion (US$530,000). It included upgrades to a 700-m road surrounding the lake, building roads connecting the lake with nearby residential areas, construction of a stone embankment for the lake, the installation of lighting systems and planting trees.

The project was then delayed due to financial shortfall and difficulties in land clearance.

Vice chairman of the People’s Committee of Đống Đa District, Nguyễn Hoàng Giáp, said the six households were allocated a land area of 300sq.m for resettlement, but the land is now being used by two other households. The land was illegally appropriated before being sold to these households.

The district authorities have finished a plan to compensate and resettle these two households to take back the land for the resettlement of the six households, according to Giáp.

The task is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2019 if the Ba Mẫu lake project investor is allocated enough capital.

He added that the lack of capital meant the project investor failed to pay temporary settlement fees for the six households that have not yet been resettled as regulated. — VNS