Stagnant seaside projects under scrutiny in central Vietnam
Stagnant seaside projects under scrutiny in central Vietnam
Resort projects located along the beach in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang that have failed to get construction work started will be dealt a tough hand as the municipal administration has decided to ‘return the beach’ to the public.
The developers of many projects in Da Nang have received investment licenses, but the best they could do was erect high walls surrounding their allocated land plots, blocking entrances to the beach.
Such stagnant projects are now faced with losing their license, as the city’s chairman Huynh Duc Tho on Monday requested relevant agencies to inspect their investment progress.
The city’s Department of Planning and Investment and its construction counterpart must look into these projects and report to the municipal administration if their licenses must be revoked, Tho said.
Such projects as the De Nhat entertainment area, a surf training school, and the Huy Khanh sports and entertainment complex are most likely to lose their license, according to the city’s chairman.
Other sluggish tourist areas, including the Nam Phat, Hon Ngoc A Chau, I.V.C., and The Nam Khang, must be penalized if they fail to meet the committed progress, Tho requested.
The punishment includes license and land plot revocation, according to the chairman.
The Da Nang administration had to take stronger action after repeatedly prompting the developers of these projects to speed up progress.
The resorts were allowed to be built at ‘prime’ locations along the beach and their developers held lavish groundbreaking ceremonies, after which they did nothing with construction.
These stagnant projects thus block the way to the beautiful beach in Da Nang, which deeply angers local residents.
“It’s annoying that we cannot get to the beach, which is supposed to serve the public,” Quynh Trang, a local resident, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday.
Architect To Van Hung, deputy chairman of the Da Nang Architect Association, said the beach, as a gift of nature, must be for everyone’s use, not only “a few wealthy people who stay at beachfront resorts.”
“The beach is a common asset for the public, and any planning must be prepared in a way that allows residents to enjoy what nature brings them,” he told Tuoi Tre.
Allowing resorts and hotels to occupy the seaside and thus face protests from locals seems a common issue for all coastal cities in Vietnam.
The administration in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa has also decided to pull the plug on part of a multibillion-dollar project along the provincial Nha Trang beach to protect its ecotourism, following complaints from locals similar to those in Da Nang.
On Phu Quoc Island, off the southern province of Kien Giang, tourists and locals also face difficulty getting to the beach as the entrance is blocked by a series of lodging facilities.
