Infrastructure is under development in the Thủ Thiêm new urban area in HCM City’s District 2. VNS/ VNS Photo Quang Nhựt

HCM CITY — The HCM City authorities have asked for permission from the Prime Minister to create favourable conditions for investors in the city’s Thủ Thiêm new urban area in District 2 to ensure continued construction progress.

According to a recent Government Inspectorate report, assistance to investors was needed to ensure that they follow the adjustments suggested by the Inspectorate.

The projects in the area are behind schedule and are incomplete due to land clearance problems, according to the city's People’s Committee.

In addition, adjustment of the project scale and total investment occurred during implementation, which has contributed to delays.  

The People’s Committee has asked the PM, the State Audit agency and the Government Inspectorate to allow investors to make necessary adjustments.  

The Government Inspectorate in June inspected land planning and management as well as the construction of Thủ Thiêm new urban area project.

It said that the People’s Committee and agencies committed violations in land planning and land use management in the area.

The committee violated regulations on auction and land-use management because it did not organise bids for the projects and did not allocate land, collect land-use fees, or auction land-use rights.

In addition, the committee did not abide by bidding regulations when it approved Đại Quang Minh Joint Stock Company to be the investor of the Build-Transfer (BT) project to build four main roads in the area.

The committee also did not require the investor to make a proposal in writing and document the investor’s experience in project design, construction, operation and management as well as its financial ability.

Though the committee approved construction of four roads with total investment of VNĐ12.18 trillion ($522.53 million), it did not consult relevant agencies, which was required.

Similarly, the committee on its own changed the contractor of the Thủ Thiêm 2 Bridge BT project and the bridge design from four lanes to six lanes without reporting this to higher authorities, damaging the state budget.

The People’s Committee has been told to work with agencies and the Government Inspectorate to review any changes in the detailed plans of projects, including the residential area on the south side of Mai Chí Thọ Street.

If the city fails to address the consequences of its violations before the end of the year, the Government Inspectorate said it would transfer the conclusions of the inspection to the Inspection Commission of the Party Central Committee and impose penalties on individuals and organisations under the management of the Politburo.

The Inspectorate has also asked the Prime Minister to require local authorities to take strong measures against those that are responsible for violations.

Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of the People’s Committee, said the city would quickly deal with the violations as pointed out by the Government Inspectorate. — VNS