HCMC – The Government Inspectorate has affirmed that five quarters of the Binh An, Binh Khanh and An Khanh wards are within the approved boundary of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project in District 2, while residents in these quarters are of a different opinion.
The Government Inspectorate yesterday, November 27, met with some 50 residents representing households in the five quarters, the local media reported.
Residents complained that land lots in the five quarters were outside the boundary of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project, not only 4.3 hectares of land, as stated in the Government Inspectorate’s announcement 1483 in 2018.
During an inspection into the project, a working team of the Government Inspectorate did not meet with the affected households and clarify the area of the reclaimed land in the three wards.
They proposed the prime minister establish a team to inspect the project and respond to their complaints.
According to the Government Inspectorate, the HCMC government had provided the inspectorate with some maps on the planning of the project, including one kept by then municipal chairman Vo Viet Thanh. These maps had been sent to the then prime minister to secure approval for the project.
These maps show that only some 4.3 hectares of land in Binh An Ward was outside the boundary of the project, while other disputed areas were inside.
In addition, before August 7, 2005, there were no regulations on the symbol system used in planning designs. Planning designs were not compelled to include information about approval decisions.
Therefore, the planning design for the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project did not include the signature and seal of the approval agency, which was in line with the law.
In January 1997, the Government issued a decision to establish districts 2, 7, 9 and Thu Duc. On March 18, 1997, the HCMC government set up District 2.
On November 5, 1998, the District 2 government issued decisions to establish quarters, residential groups and hamlets; and the area, position and boundary of the five quarters of the Binh An, Binh Khanh and An Khanh wards were identified.
According to the cadastral map of District 2, land lots in the five quarters were inside the boundary of the project.
At the meeting, residents provided the Government Inspectorate with a copy of a map from the National Archives Center and proposed the inspectorate prove the legality of the maps that it used to make conclusions on the boundary of the project.
Since 2006, this is the fourth time the Government Inspectorate and the HCMC government have held a dialogue with the Thu Thiem residents, other than dialogues between the HCMC delegation of National Assembly deputies and the municipal People’s Council and residents in District 2.
The meeting had earlier been scheduled for May last year but was postponed until now due to Covid-19.
