The statement was made by Secretary of the Party Committee of District 1 Duong Anh Duc at a meeting chaired by Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen with the participation of delegates held on June 13.
In the Cho Gao- Cho Ga area of HCMC's downtown District 1, people live in tiny and shabby houses in cramped spaces with a high risk of fire and explosion. There are plots of land with an area of 15m square meters accommodating 4-5 households, Mr. Duong Anh Duc said.
The slum located within a 930-hectare area with land use and building height limitations has been struggling for years to attract investment.
Although investors said that they will not calculate the interest rate on investment and ensure to completion of the project while District 1 also creates favorable conditions and provides sufficient space for the project implementation, the project cannot be carried out, he added.
The Secretary of the Party Committee of District 1 proposed the Standing Committee of the HCMC Party Committee issue a special mechanism for District 1 to address this difficulty, especially barriers in land use coefficients and building-height restrictions.
Currently, the on-site resettlement is very difficult to implement in this area because there are tiny houses with areas of less than 10 square meters, while a social housing apartment must be 30 square meters - 40 square meters. Residents have not got enough money to offset the total cost of buying an apartment and investors cannot afford to sponsor them. If the city does not have specific policies, this area will not see any huge change during the next 50 years. The downtown area cannot be developed into a smart urban zone, he emphasized.
