Hanoi (VNA) – Complaints and petitions regarding theThu Thiem new urban area in Ho Chi Minh City must be settled in line with lawsand policies to ensure legitimate interests of residents, said Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc.

Speaking at a working session with representatives ofrelevant ministries and agencies and the HCM City People’s Committee in Hanoion May 15, the PM said it is necessary to harmonise interests of the State,investors and people.

He highlighted investigations into incidents and dialogueswith the public in order to reach consensus on settlement methods, saying incidentsshould be addressed following set roadmaps.

PM Phuc assigned the Government Inspectorate to clarify complaintsabout land reclamation, compensation and resettlement support, while proposing settlementmeasures in accordance with legal regulations. Outcomes of the work should bereported to the PM before July 15, 2018.

The Ministries of Natural Resources and Environment, Constructionand Justice, and the HCM City People’s Committee were requested to closelycoordinate with the Government Inspectorate in reviewing and handlingcomplaints.

The leader also asked the municipal People’s Committee toimplement suitable policies towards local people, especially residents who haveyet been relocated although they had handed over their land to the project.

Covering a total area of 657hectares, the Thu Thiem new urban area is located on Thu Thiem peninsula in HCMCity’s District 2, which faces downtown District 1 across Saigon River.

Approved by the Government in 1996, the proposedfinancial district and mixed-use urban area of HCM City is set to become thelargest inner-city development in Southeast Asia.

Thu Thiem will relieve some of the pressures thecity currently faces. The infrastructure within the city’s existing central businessdistrict is starting to overload due to rapid growth during the last threedecades, city authorities have said. 

According to a master plan, the new urban areahas five main areas: the central core, the northern residential area, theresidential area along Mai Chi Tho Avenue, the eastern residential area, andthe delta area in the south.

To develop such a project, it took more than 10years for site clearance of most of Thu Thiem peninsula, with as many as 15,000households being resettled.

In a document sent to the Prime Minister in2015, the city authorities said total costs in the new urban area for clearancecompensation and resettlement, technical infrastructure, and loan interest hadreached more than 29 trillion VND (1.27 billion USD).

Of the figure, about 12 trillion VND is fromcommercial credit institutions, resulting in an interest of around 2.9 billionVND per day.-VNA