A view of the Thủ Thiêm new urban area project in District 2. The city government has approved a policy of compensation and resettlement for the affected households. VNA/VNS Photo Manh Linh

HCM CITY — The HCM City government has approved a policy of compensation and resettlement for households in a 4.3ha area located outside the original boundary of the Thủ Thiêm new urban area project in the city’s District 2.

Under the policy, more than 330 households will be eligible for different levels of compensation in exchange for land in resettled areas.

Accordingly, households that have sufficient legal documents of ownership of the acquired land will be compensated with new land lots of the equivalent size. 

Households that lack sufficient legal documents of ownership of the acquired land but resided on land lots prior to October 1993 will receive new land lots of up to 200 square metres.

Besides, they will be compensated for only 30-40 per cent of the acquired land (100sq.m of land in the 4.3ha area will receive 30-40sq.m of residential land in the resettled area).

Households living on agricultural land (with or without legal documents of ownership) will also be compensated with new land lots of the equivalent size. But they must pay for fees for converting agricultural land to residential land based on land prices in September 2018.

Those that have leased land from the State in the 43ha area will be compensated with new land lots equivalent to 50 per cent of the acquired land. 

Households who will receive compensated land area of less than 36 sq.m will be resettled in condominiums instead. Those who will receive land area of more than 200 sq.m will receive 200 sq.m in land and the value of the rest in cash (according to the unit price by the city People’s Committee dated on May 7, 2020).

In addition to the compensation, the affected households will also be provided with financial support for construction on new land, transport costs and other items. 

At a recent conference, Lê Phước Tài, deputy head of the Management Board of Thủ Thiêm new urban area, said the People’s Committee of District 2 and the Management Board of Thủ Thiêm new urban area have allocated 198 land plots in Bình Khánh Ward for the compensation for the households. 

Authorities are now negotiating with the households on the compensation plan so they can receive the land as soon as possible, he said. 

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