Dozens of Projects Delay Putting Land into Use in Bac Ninh Province
Right in the center of Que Vo township, instead of a bustling commercial center to serve economic development, every evening the land is lit up and becomes a place to sell snacks, with a street food stalls sprouting up right in the middle of the urban center.
This “abandoned” lot has a prime location with more than 1,800m2. The Bac Ninh provincial government decided to allocate the land to Quoc Hoa Company Limited in November 2013 to build a commercial center combined with an apartment building in Pho Moi town, now Pho Moi ward. However, after nearly 11 years since the land was handed over, the project remains a vacant lot.
Overview of the area
Nguyen Van Thang from Zone 2, Pho Moi ward, Que Vo township, Bac Ninh province, said the road along the project was “promised” by the investor to be a major commercial center in the region, meeting economic and social development needs of the locality. However, until now, this project is still being abandoned, causing people living around the area to sadly wait every day for the project to be implemented.
“Seeing the abandoned project makes us very upset. When the project was proposed and the site clearance plan was made in accordance with the state’s policies, which were reasonable, people were very supportive because it would create a green, clean environment and open space for Que Vo,” Thang said. “However, I don’t understand why after so many years it is still just a vacant lot, overgrown with grass.”
Nguyen Sy Dao from Zone 2, Pho Moi ward, Que Vo township, Bac Ninh province, said: “To make the locality more clean and beautiful, I hope investors and authorities at all levels and sectors will soon get involved so that the construction unit can follow the approved and transferred planning and design and build roads for people to travel conveniently.”
Previously, the Prime Minister agreed to convert Nhan Hoa – Phuong Lieu small and medium industrial park into An Viet – Que Vo 6 industrial park with an area of 78.68 ha in the planning list for the development of industrial parks until 2020 of Bac Ninh province
Staring blankly at the rice field that his family once farmed, now abandoned, Nguyen Tat Thang from Bat Phi neighborhood, Nhan Hoa ward, Que Vo township, Bac Ninh province, couldn’t help but feel sad. Thang said that in 2008, when the local government announced the implementation of the Nhan Hoa – Phuong Lieu industrial park project, his family and many households in the area agreed to negotiate the transfer of their rice fields to the enterprise.
“It is such a waste to see dozens of hectares of land abandoned. Meanwhile, there are many people who don’t have enough to earn a living. As soon as the project started announcing the planning and implementation, people were very excited that it would change the face of the countryside, that there would be many changes, and that local children would have more opportunities to develop,” Thang said. “After 16 years of implementation with many adjustments, this land is still vacant.”
Converting to An Viet – Que Vo 6 industrial park will increase the attractiveness of attracting investment in industrial parks, which is a suitable and necessary step to upgrade infrastructure
Although the project has been fenced with corrugated iron and walls, it is still just a vacant lot, causing waste
These are just two of dozens of projects that are slow to put land into use in Bac Ninh province. In fact, many investors rush to set up projects, following the planning without having enough financial capacity to implement them. This leads to misuse of land or subletting of land, resulting in slow land clearance progress or abandonment. This not only damages the urban landscape but also wastes land resources.
Nguyen Van Trieu, a land officer from Nhan Hoa ward, Que Vo township, Bac Ninh province, said: “It would be better if investors implemented the project right from the start of the planning. If they oppose it a little bit each time, it is hard to know when the project will be formed.”
Many places are used as places to release fish and raise ducks
The vacant lot is used for bathing buffaloes
To avoid the situation of projects being slow to implement and causing waste of land resources, right from the investment licensing assessment stage, state management agencies need to select investors who are truly capable, qualified, and have strong enough financial capacity. At the same time, measures need to be taken to strengthen the management and supervision of the use of land in an effective manner in order to avoid waste of land resources, which would affect the economic development plan of the locality.
