Imperial city of Hue ready for historical migration

Authorities have been ordered that relocation work involving several hundred households must be completed this year

A technical infrastructure project on building northern residential areas Huong So 1 and 2 to serve the relocation of people of the Hue citadel relic’s Region I was approved by the People’s Committee of Thua Thien-Hue province, with a total budget of nearly VND110 billion ($4.78 million), and ­involving nearly 500 resettlement land lots.

According to the Project Management Board, contractors are urgently speeding up the bidding packages and the construction package of residential areas has exceeded 92 per cent. In addition to technical infrastructure items, serviced facilities for people such as schools and sewer systems are also being actively implemented.

In respect to the scheme of preserving, restoring, and embellishing the Hue city system in the Thuong Thanh area, according to Hue city People’s Committee, currently the wards in the project have almost acquired certifications of residential land use, and completed evaluation of land compensation for 187 out of 250 records. It will be made public on November 15 in order for Hue city People’s Committee to approve the plan on compensation, support, and resettlement.

According to a representative of Hue City People’s ­Committee, to proactively implement the project in 2020 and in following years the committee has recently proposed the People’s Council of Thua Thien-Hue province to approve the list of projects on land acquisition and land use plans in 2019, in light of land clearance projects in Eo Bau and Ho Thanh Hao areas, plus associated roads and infrastructure construction projects in three other areas in the resettlement area north of Huong So.

Phan Ngoc Tho, chairman of Thue Thien-Hue People’s Committee, said that the migration of Hue imperial city was a historic move. The project aims not only to stabilise citizens’ lives, but also to carry out conservation of the heritage for serving the tourist, social, and economic development of the province in general. Therefore, the task of bringing people to new places must be taken seriously, ensuring the best conditions for people.

“Besides support from central government, the management authorities of Hue city as well as departments and agencies in the whole province should be involved actively. In particular, the chairman of the city People’s Committee and the director of Hue Monuments Conservation Centre must proactively co-ordinate with competent departments to ensure the project is implemented on schedule,” Tho noted.

The project on migration and site clearance in area 1 of Hue relics, which belongs to the Hue monuments complex, reports a total investment value of about VND4.1 trillion ($178 million). Of which, site clearance costs about VND2.73 trillion ($119 million) and resettlement construction costs about VND1.36 trillion ($59 million).

During a recent working visit to Thua Thien-Hue, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Chairwoman of the National Assembly, said that the government plans to allocate at least VND500 billion ($21.7 million) from public investment sources in the period 2016-2020 for the project on people’s relocation and site clearance in Hue relics’ area 1.