Rule of the flaw
By Son Nguyen in HCMC
It seems to be just a minor move by the HCMC government to allow for the high-rise building Pacific Tower project on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in District 1 to maintain the status quo after the developer has violated regulations by building more underground floors than permitted. The project while under progress caused a nearby building to collapse and the ground of the city’s Foreign Department campus to sink with caves-in in late 2007. However, the latest decision by the HCMC government, at the suggestion of the Department of Construction, pours cold water on all those still having belief in rule of the law.
In fact, after the incident, relevant State agencies have sat back together to discuss punitive measures against the investor, and most opinions were straightforward that the two underground floors that stretched the construction license had to be canceled out. Construction at the site was suspended, and criminal proceedings were even taken against the project owner. All eyes were on the next move by the city government, hoping that the law would be properly enforced. The new move, however, stuns many, and frustrates local media.
The city’s Construction Department reasons that the violator has paid all fines, compensated affected parties, and adhered to all punitive sanctions by authorities, so it should be given amnesty to continue the project, according to Tuoi Tre. The department furthers that the construction of the extra floors does not go against the general master zoning plan of the city, and therefore requires no remedy.
In an interview on Phap Luat, deputy director of the Construction Department Nguyen Van Hiep explains that if the investor is forced to level out the two extra floors, it will spell out huge damages to the investor and a big loss to the society. “If we let them ‘die’ then it is not a good way of State management,” he says.
While the official resorts to damages to the investor, he seems not to care about damages to the law when enforcement is not ensured.
Tuoi Tre says it is unfair when thousands of civil works such as houses have been disapproved by authorities for minor violations, while a big mistake like that at the Pacific Tower can be forsaken. To improve legal obedience among all social stakeholders, it is imperative to cancel out the two extra floors before other consequences are addressed, according to the newspaper.
Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau of the HCMC Bar Association wonders on Tuoi Tre why the city authorities are too lenient toward the Pacific Tower after several buildings in downtown HCMC have had extra top floors torn down in the past years. This double-standard behavior will erode into the legal obedience in the society.
On Phap Luat, Hiep of the Construction Department, after saying the extra underground floors do not breach the master zoning plan, goes farther by pointing out that if the investor had from the very beginning applied for building such floors, its application should have been approved. Lawyer Truong Xuan Tam sarcastically says on Tuoi Tre it seems that the investor has made administrative errors only rather than breaching the construction permit.
If the Pacific Tower is given leniency, says Lawyer Hau, then thousands of other civil housing projects in the city that have been found with violations should be treated in the same way.
Lao Dong and some other papers say the municipal government has lost its prestige in handling this violation.
“The HCMC government has stunned the public by its decision to approve of serious violations of the investor,” says Lao Dong, adding that will create a bad precedent in construction management on the part of State agencies.
On Tuoi Tre, Lawyer Hau says the Ministry of Construction has issued a circular effective as of September 9, 2009 which provides that those construction projects whose violations no longer affect adjacent projects will be allowed to maintain the status quo. Lao Dong ironically praises the relevant parties for knowing how to make use of all legal vehicles to legitimize and rationalize all the violations despite legal proceedings that have earlier been taken. The city will find it difficult to deal with other violators in future, says Lao Dong.
The violations at the Pacific Tower seem not to affect much on the development of the city. However, at a time when authorities are calling for the restoration of urban order, and at a time when rule of the law needs to be strengthened for that sake, the flaw in handing these violations causes many people to feel at a loss. Damages to the project may be prevented, but obedience to the law is at stake.
The Saigon Times Daily