The Thủ Thiêm Peninsula in District 2. The affected residents in a longstanding land dispute related to the Thủ Thiêm new urban area project will receive compensation this month. — VNA/VNS Photo Mạnh Linh

HCM CITY — More than 300 households in a 4.3ha area located outside the original boundary of the Thủ Thiêm new urban area project in HCM City’s District 2 will receive compensation this month in exchange for their land, a top city official has said.

Speaking at a meeting on Saturday, Nguyễn Thiện Nhân, secretary of the city Party Committee, said the city People’s Council approved the compensation plan for affected residents after a delay because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city Party Committee’s Standing Committee will instruct agencies to allocate land or houses to the affected households very soon.

“The decision was made based on the Government Inspector’s Conclusion on the 4.39ha outside the original plan,” Nhân said, adding the city has worked with more than 331 households and agreed on the compensation plan.

“The city government illegally took their land,” the Government Inspectorate said in its report in September last year. The city also did not set up an auction for land use rights, it said.

Authorised agencies are now assessing the land price based on the market price. 

“The People’s Committee is about to work with investors to agree on the additional amount that they will have to pay for land-right use,” he said. 

Nhân promised that the city would continue to take further steps to ensure a satisfactory solution for all affected residents.

Speaking at a recent meeting, Võ Văn Hoan, vice chairman of the People’s Committee, said that residents would have three compensation options - cash, land lots, or resettlement accommodations.

Hoan recommended that residents receive land lots or resettlement housing which they could later sell at market prices.

The residents would receive land in another area in exchange for their land in the 4.3ha area where they are now located. 

The city will base the price of the land on the State pricing framework and the prices of surrounding projects, Hoan said.  

The farther the land is from the centre of District 2, the bigger the area the resident will receive as an exchange.

According to the Government Inspectorate, the Thủ Thiêm master plan faced longstanding complaints from residents because of mistakes made by the city government.

The Thủ Thiêm new urban area covers 657ha with nearly 30 per cent of land lots to be developed for commercial purposes. Others are for public services including a central square, riverside park and children’s playground.

Covering 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 was expected 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 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