City urged to tackle flooding, pollution and traffic congestion

HCM City People’s Committee is seeking better solutions to tackle flooding, pollution and traffic congestion.-Photo sggpnews.org.vn

Speaking at the 10th session of the IX People’s Council meeting, Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam, said the current solutions “were not effective enough” and a programme to reduce poverty had not been sustainable.

“Many residents categorised as near-poor face the risk of becoming poor again due to ineffective solutions by the city’s government,” she said. “Vocational training programmes for the poor and the number of jobs for the poor have not been sufficient.”

In addition, Tam urged the city to overcome challenges to reach the goals of the seven “breakthrough” programmes that began in 2015.

“Some breakthrough programmes have been carried out very slowly due to a shortage of capital, slow site clearance, and residents’ limited participation in projects,” she noted.

The seven breakthrough programmes for the 2015-2020 period were approved by the city’s 10th Party Congress in 2015.

The programmes cover human resources, administrative reform, quality of growth and competitiveness, traffic congestion and accidents, flood control and response to climate change, and environmental protection.

“To implement the breakthrough programmes successfully, it is vital to improve State governance and set more stringent regulations on construction, waste treatment and traffic control,” Tam said.

Due to the city’s limited funds for the seven breakthrough programmes, Tam said that calls for investment from private enterprises were needed.

Tam also pointed out that goals of the city’s Resolution 54 for socio-economic development will not be realised if the city does not take action.

“The implementation of People’s Council resolutions under the National Assembly’s resolution 54 about special governance policies for HCM City has been very slow,” she added.

The People’s Council also discussed policies to invest in 45 projects, which use reciprocal capital from the city, with total investment of more than VND8.48 trillion ($363 million).

NEW OPERA HOUSE

The city People’s Council on Monday also approved a project to develop a 1,700-seat symphony-opera-ballet theatre worth more than VND1.5 trillion ($64.2 million) in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2, which will be funded by the city’s budget.

Speaking at the meeting, Le Thanh Liem, vice chairman of the city People’s Committee, said the funding for the project would come from an auction of land at 23 Le Duan in District 1.

The theatre will be built from 2018 to 2022, and invested in by the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s investment management board for construction of works, he said.

Liêm emphasised the importance of the project, saying HCM City was a hub for economic, cultural, scientific and technical exchanges.

“HCM City is in dire need of cultural infrastructure, particularly a large, modern theatre for symphony, opera and ballet, to meet the needs of local arts lovers,” he said.

Most symphony concerts are held at the current Opera House, which was built in 1898 and can accommodate only 500 people, he added.

Nguyen Van Dung, head of the city People’s Committee’s Economic and Budget Committee, noted that an international-standard theatre must have a unique design with greenery space.

“The city People’s Committee should select capable contractors and avoid wasteful spending when building the theatre,” Dung said.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, deputy director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the theatre would be built for a wide variety of arts performances.

The project has, however, faced opposition from some residents, who say that the high costs should go toward building more schools, hospitals and other public facilities.

Also speaking at the event, Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the city People’s Committee, said the city would focus on implementing the resolutions approved by the People’s Council, finishing the remaining projects.

“The city will also accelerate the equitisation of state-owned enterprises and complete collecting state budget revenues in 2018,” he said.

Participants also discussed ways to successfully implement the school milk programme called “School Milk - for Vietnam’s Stature” that aims to ensure nutritional standards for children in kindergartens and elementary schools by 2020.

The programme was launched by the Vietnam Television, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Health and the TH Group.