Hanoi (VNA) - The Government Inspectorate has delivered its report on thecontroversial implementation of the master plan and land and constructionmanagement at the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in Ho Chi Minh City’s district 2.

It said 99 percent ofthe land had been cleared and compensation payments and resettlement of localpeople had conformed to laws and regulations.

Contracts, mainly inbuild–transfer (BT) form, had been signed with the investors of a number ofprojects, including construction of the four main roads and the Thu ThiemBridge No 2, development of infrastructure for the residential area in thenorthern part and construction of the section of the North-South Road from ThuThiem Bridge to Mai Chi Tho Street.

However, there hadbeen shortcomings and violations on the part of the city People’s Committee andother relevant agencies during the investment and development processes, whichhad led to long-standing complaints from people having their land appropriated.

Constructionregulations for the Thu Thiem New Urban Area were incomplete and what therewere had not been issued in time, and projects had not been submitted to theGovernment in the order of priority set by it.

These violations hadresulted in plans for and investment in sketchy projects, which were delayedand not well managed.

The city authorities’proposal to fix the price of land at 26 million VND for one square metre was“inappropriate”.

The HCM City People’sCommittee had failed to implement the Government’s instructions, and itsleaders would need to be held responsible.

However, otherrelevant agencies such as the Departments of Planning and Investment, Finance,Natural Resources and Environment, and Construction, and the management boardof the Thu Thiem New Urban Area also had to be held accountable.

There was an“investment imbalance” of 8,734 billion VND (375 million USD) in thedevelopment of the project.

The Inspector Generalhas recommended that the Government should instruct HCM City to return themoney it had provided as advances last September for developing the ThuThiem New Urban Area of over 26.31 trillion VND (1.12 billion USD).

The report called fordrafting plans to use the remaining land in Thu Thiem and to recalculate theprices of lands handed over to buyers to ensure the state coffers do not suffera loss, and for “balancing investments.”

The Government Inspectorate said ff the economicviolations that result in losses to the State asset are not resolved completelyprior to December 31, the Government’s top watchdog said it would forwardnecessary documents to the investigative agencies to review the case in linewith the law.-VNA