 |
Current houses on Long Van Tu Canal in Binh Thanh District (Photo: SGGP) |
The HCMC Construction Department informed that HCMC inner has 5 major canal routes with a total length of over 105km for water drainage in the basin of 14,200ha.
However, the canals themselves are being narrowed due to encroachment of nearby dwellers. The total number of houses built on and along these canals comes to more than 65,000 (according to statistics since 1993).
In general, the completion proportion of the scheme to remove and relocate houses as well as resettling residents along these canals is rather low (below 50 percent).
In the 2021-2025 period, HCMC sets a target to relocate 6,500 houses on and along its canals, allocating a capital of VND19.3 trillion (US$790 million) mostly from the state budget. Until now, the projects to fulfill this target have finished their investment preparation stage for the 2016-2020 period. In June 2023, only five out of fourteen projects are approved to receive more capital for compensation distribution and resettlement tasks. It is expected that by 2025, about 585 houses will have been moved.
Participants in the conference voiced that Resolution No.98/2023/QH15 by the National Assembly on piloting a number of special mechanisms and policies for the growth of HCMC offers several chances to attract more investments in this important scheme.
Therefore, the municipal authorities and related functional agencies in HCMC have to evaluate the current status, devise more feasible and comprehensive solutions or policies to successfully implement the program to remove and relocate houses as well as resettling residents along the canals so that the concerned people can enjoy a more stable life in the future.
