Downtown HCM City parking lots overloaded with motorbikes

Licenced parking lots in HCM City’s downtown area are overloaded with motorbikes. – VNA/VNS Photo

In the centre of District 1, households on Hàm Nghi, Ngô Đức Kế, Mạc Thị Bưởi, Huỳnh Thúc Kháng and Hồ Tùng Mậu streets are offering in-house parking services for VNĐ10,000 (44 US cents) per vehicle.

Existing in-house parking lots in District 1 are now overloaded with motorbikes.

Mai Lan, owner of an in-house parking lot on Nguyễn Siêu Street in District 1, said the number of vehicles has increased by 20-40 a day since the closure of the 48 parking sites.

Lưu Trọng Hòa, deputy chairman of District 1 People’s Committee, has ordered the district’s Economic Bureau to work with local wards to inspect 121 parking lots for licence registration, parking fees, fire prevention, and tax payment.

The order came after many people complained about high fees.

Bùi Xuân Cường, director of the city’s Department of Transport, said the department would work with the District 1 People’s Committee to resolve the problem related to the 48 parking lots on pavements.

Parking lots which can ensure traffic safety and space for pedestrians will be permitted to reopen soon, he said.

The current parking fee of VNĐ5,000 will be raised, creating favourable conditions to attract private investment in parking lots, according to the department.

Last Thursday, the municipal People’s Committee ordered the city’s 24 districts to inspect and close most parking lots on pavements by the end of March.

Camera monitors

Many areas in the city are using cameras to monitor public security, traffic safety and illegal use of pavements.

In District 12, for instance, local authorities have installed 600 monitor cameras in 11 wards.

Lê Trương Hải Hiếu, chairman of the District 12 People’s Committee, said besides monitoring public security and traffic safety, the cameras help local authorities to resolve problems quickly and discover violations related to the use of pavements.

In Gò Vấp District, Ward 14 has also installed 193 cameras.

Đặng Công Tuấn, deputy chairman of Ward 14 People’s Committee in Gò Vấp District, said the cameras had helped reduce the number of violations.

In District 5, cameras recently installed have also helped curb violators at the Tân Hưng – Thuận Kiều intersection in Ward 12.

Trần Phương Nam, chairman of Ward 12 People’s Committee, said the ward has 92 camera monitors.

The camera installation has helped increase awareness about pavement use, he added.

Last April, Bình Thạnh District launched a complaint app that can be used by the public to report violations related to garbage dumping, illegal construction and pavement encroachment.

The public complaint app has seen positive results and the city plans to expand the app to all of the city’s districts.