Apartment buildings top QA session

Apartment buildings in the west of Hanoi. Issues relating to the management of apartment building dominated the question and answer session at the sixth meeting of Hanoi People’s Council yesterday.- VNS Photo Doan Tung

Doàn Viet Cuong, a deputy from Me Linh District, raised questions about the responsibility of the Department of Construction (DoC) and its solutions and roadmap to address shortcomings in the management and operation of residential blocks in the city.

He said by the end of 2017, 270 out of 688 apartment buildings lacked management boards and 235 others hadn’t handed over maintenance funds, causing concern for local residents.

In response to Cường’s queries, Le Van Duc, director of the department, acknowledged the problem. He said the department had proposed that the city People’s Committee issue documents to strictly deal with investors who failed to hand over funds for maintenance of public areas as required by law.

Answering deputies’ questions about the organisation of a meeting between residents of a new apartment building and the election of their management boards, Dục said the organisation of such a meeting to elect their management board was often delayed. He attributed it to the low number of residents residing in the new building.

In accordance with Circular 02/2016/TT-BXD of the Ministry of Construction, if the building has over 50 per cent of apartments sold, developers have to organise a meeting to elect the management board within 12 months of its operation.

A number of district People’s Committees hadn’t been proactive in pushing investors to organise the meeting or co-ordinate with them to organise meetings, he said.

To solve the problem, Duc said, the city People’s Committee has asked investors and concerned agencies to follow state regulations. Specifically, they had to complete the appointment of a management board in the third quarter of this year. The People’s Committee of districts had duties to urge investors to hold such meetings. Strict punishment would be imposed on those who failed to hold meetings on time, he said.

“The DoF will collaborate with the people’s committees of districts in dealing with the buildings which are eligible for the establishment of management boards but investors have not yet hold talks to elect such boards,” Dục emphasised.

The department would also submit a list of investors accused of violations to the city authorities so that they wouldn’t be allowed to take part in new projects, he said.

Responding to the deputies’ queries about the delayed handover of maintenance fees to the building’s management board and conflicts between investors and management boards, Dục blamed the issue on the fact that investors use the maintenance fee or make a separate account to temporarily manage the fee.

If investors failed to follow the city People’s Committee’s request to handover the maintenance fee, the DoC would propose the municipal authorities to do so by force, he said.

In response to a question from Duy Hoang Duong, a delegate from Hoai Duc District, on 79 apartment buildings that don’t meet fire-safety regulations, Hoang Quoc Dịnh, director of the Hanoi Police Department of Fire Fighting and Prevention, said the city authorities had ordered relevant forces to handle the issue. As many as 55 out of 79 buildings have been certified since 2016.

Regarding issues on apartment buildings and resettlement projects of low quality and poor fire safety, Dinh said the People’s Committee has assigned the fire department to coordinate with the DoC in inspecting 168 apartment buildings and resettlement blocks to ensure that they meet fire prevention and firefighting regulations before March next year.

Topics including the management of non-public educational institutions and the quality of kindergarten and foreign language centres were also discussed at the Q&A session yesterday.

Answering deputies’ questions about the quality of kindergartens in the city, Chu Xuan Dung, director of the Department of Education and Training, said the People’s committees of districts would strengthen inspections and clamp down on private kindergartens that had been transferred without informing authorised agencies as mentioned by the deputies.

The Department also asked concerned agencies to publicise their names online and on mass media to raise public awareness.

Dũng admitted that public schools have not met standards in some populated areas, industrial parks and export processing zones. As a result, private kindergartens would fill the gap. He blamed investors for failing to follow their commitments.

In order to deal with the above-mentioned situation, the department has organised many seminars to strengthen the management of private classes, thereby helping localities overcome difficulties, he said.

Dung said the department had proposed city authorities consider building kindergartens when approving the construction of industrial parks and processing zones.