HCMC – The HCMC Department of Natural Resources and Environment has written to the municipal People’s Council seeking to convert thousands of hectares of rice-growing land into residential land.
Eighteen residential development projects are in need of the conversion of the use purpose of fewer than 10 hectares each, while three others requires the conversion of over 10 hectares of agricultural land, according to the municipal department.
In District 7, the LuxStar high-rise apartment building project invested by Vien Dong Land Investment Corporation needs 0.86 hectare of farmland to be converted into residential land, while 1.77 hectares of rice-growing land needs converting for a high-rise apartment project by the Song Hong LandHouse Real Estate JSC.
The department also proposed converting farmland for multiple housing projects in Thu Duc City, including a social housing project in Long Phuoc Ward, the Dien Phuc Thanh housing project in An Khanh Ward and a high-rise housing complex in Truong Tho Ward.
The city’s outlying districts of Nha Be and Hoc Mon also need many hectares of farmland to be converted for several housing projects.
In addition, many households in the districts of 7, 12, Binh Tan, Nha Be, Hoc Mon, Can Gio, Cu Chi and Binh Chanh and Thu Duc City also need the conversion of the use purpose of a total of 1,060 hectares of rice-growing land.
According to the department, the total area of agricultural land in the city was 111,875 hectares in 2020. During the 2015-2020 period, the farmland area fell by 725 hectares a year on average, as it was converted into non-agricultural land for infrastructure and housing projects in the urbanization process.
