500 residents of Carina Plaza signed letter to prime minister

577 Investment Corporation owes nearly VND20 billion ($0.872 million) of maintenance fee of Carina Plaza

Yesterday evening, hundreds of residents of Carina Plaza in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City met and discussed with the representative of the developer, Hung Thanh Co., Ltd.

The representative was very tired and said: “We are so sorry for the late official announcement because we had to handle the incident, provide information for investigation, and help families whose members died or were injured. We focus on protecting the assets and the vehicles (cars and motorbikes) of residents.”

He said that the company has sent people to stay at the hospital to support injured people during the emergency. Hung Thanh Company gives VND100 million ($4,405) after each deceased family member. Up to date, a total of 13 dead and 42 injured people received over VND1.8 billion ($79,300).

“The company also provides each household with VND300,000 ($13.2) a day to rent a temporary accommodation until their apartments are repaired,” he announced.

He said that residents should have the damaged vehicles fixed or turn to their insurance agency for payment. If they are not compensated by the insurance, Hung Thanh will pay.

For totally burnt vehicles, the company will co-ordinate with insurance agencies to provide compensation within 15 days from today (March 26). Hung Thanh will try to fix the apartments and the buildings within 30 days.

Some residents agreed to the announcement of the developer, but most of them are still angry. They said that the apology came too late and that they were not once consulted to overcome the incident. They are also angry at having to stay temporarily at acquaintances’ or rent rooms in hotels.

Also yesterday, nearly 500 residents of Carina Plaza signed a letter to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to denunciate the developer. People claimed that all the damages was a result of the mistakes of the developer and the management board as the fire could have been prevented by the proper maintenance and supervision of equipment as well as periodic inspections of the fire prevention system at the apartment.

They requested the local government and related agencies to discover the reason of the fire and handle violations with a heavy hand, as well as provide compensation for their damages.

Earlier, according to newswire VnExpress, the developer of Carina Plaza has spent VND3.5 billion ($154,200) for maintenance in 2017.

In early 2017, the consolidated financial report of 577 Investment Corporation showed that NBB paid VND23.3 billion ($1.03 million) for the Carina Plaza maintenance fund. At the end of 2017, this was reduced to VND19.8 billion ($0.872 million), meaning the corporation spent VND3.5 billion ($154,200) on the maintenance of Carina Plaza in 2017.

Residents of Carina Plaza said that although the apartment has been launched six years ago, the developer has yet to hold a meeting to elect a management unit. Meanwhile, according to regulations, such a meeting should be held within 12 months after the apartment is put into operation.