Hanoi told to look into land disputes over $336m road project

The Hoang Cau-Voi Phuc section of the expanded Belt Road 1 in Hanoi. - Photo baochinhphu.vn

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh has asked authorities to submit a report to the Government by January.

The order was made after the Government Office received a number of complaints from resident Pham Thi Nga together with others living at 369 De La Thanh St, O Cho Dua Ward, Dong Da District, claiming the city’s land reclamation for its road project had unreasonably affected their homes and land.

Hanoi has been asked to make public its plans for the land and issue a map of the boundaries for the road project, while handling complaints from residents to avoid prolonged disputes.

In October, authorities approved of the Hoang Cau-Voi Phuc section as part of the Belt Road 1, which was first built in the French colonial era.

According to official documents, the Hoang Cau-Voi Phuc section will have six lanes and run for more than 2km.

A combined 6,000sq.m of real estate to the south of De La Thanh St between Hoang Cau St and Lang Ha St – both of which intersect with the road – has been designated for parking lots and green space as part of the project, which means all houses and buildings along this busy section of the road will be pulled down.

Since 2017, when the first information regarding the Belt Road 1 expansion project surfaced, residents of the affected area on De La Thanh St have staged protests and sent complaints to different levels of municipal and central Government agencies.

The Hoang Cau-Voi Phuc project will cost VND7.8 trillion (US$336 million), sourced mostly from the municipal budget, but three-quarters of the figure, VND5.8 trillion, will be used to pay compensation for more the 2,300 households that will be forced to relocate.

The project was originally slated to start in the last quarter of this year but land clearance issues had pushed back the construction to the second quarter of 2019, according to vice chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, Nguyen The Hung.