Many residents affected by the Thủ Thiêm New Urban Area project in HCM City’s District 2 are still suffering from poor living conditions in the An Phú Area. VNA/VNS Photo Trần Xuân Tình

HCM CITY — The HCM City government has given approval to a local property developer to build technical infrastructure on three land lots covering 38.4 hectares for resettlement of residents in the Thủ Thiêm New Urban Area in District 2’s Bình Khánh Ward.

The HCM City-based Đại Quang Minh Real Estate Investment Corporation will use its own capital to build technical infrastructure (roads, lighting system, and electricity and water supply equipment, among others) without asking the city government to return the funding.

Speaking at a recent meeting with the management board of Thủ Thiêm New Urban Area project, Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of the People’s Committee, urged the District 2 authority to work with agencies to evaluate the designs of the technical infrastructure project and ensure road connections in the resettlement area.

The corporation will also use its own funds to build an administrative office in An Lợi Đông Ward which will then hand it over to District 2 authority for management and operation without requiring the district authority to return the funding.

In addition, the city People’s Committee has also approved the adjustment of a project to develop a technical infrastructure network for the district’s northern residential area and a north-south arterial road according to the Build-Transfer (BT) model.

The project will add more items such as four more bridges, and will dredge canals, and dig central lakes and new canals.

The city People’s Committee also asked the Department of Planning and Investment to consider the proposal of the management board of Thủ Thiêm New Urban Area project to organise a bidding to select investors to implement a project to build an exhibition centre complex in the new urban area.

He has also asked the management board of the project to work with District 2 authority and agencies to advise the city government on capital sources for compensation and site clearance and investment in infrastructure construction in the Thủ Thiêm New Urban Area.

Phong has given approval for the use of the city’s State Budget to build two bridges on the N2 and N4 roads, which would create links and raise the value for auction of a land plot where a five-star urban resort will be built.

The Thủ Thiêm new urban area project was approved by then-Prime Minister Võ Văn Kiệt on June 4, 1996. 

Covering a total area of 657ha, the Thủ Thiêm new urban area is located on Thủ Thiêm peninsula in HCM City’s District 2, which faces downtown District 1 across the Sài Gòn River.

Approved by the Government in 1996, the proposed financial district and mixed-use urban area of HCM City is set to become the largest inner-city development in Southeast Asia.

To develop such a project, it has taken more than 10 years to complete site clearance of most of the Thủ Thiêm peninsula, with nearly 15,000 households already resettled. 

More than 99 per cent of land in the proposed area has been cleared. — VNS