Discussing this on the second day of the HCMC People’s Council 19th session meeting, council member Truong Trong Nghia expressed worry on how the city would pay for its development projects and who would finally benefit from such development work.
Mr. Nghia added that even though development achievements generated more jobs, they also created other problems such as traffic congestion, pollution and death traps on the streets, besides also incurring financial debts.
On the other hand, deputy from district Tan Binh Truong Vi Kien urged the city to support small and medium enterprises as such companies were paying a high bank interest of over 20 percent and as a result often faced losses.
Mr. Kien proposed that the government stabilize the foreign exchange rate between the Vietnam dong and the US dollar along with reduction of bank interest on loans. He also suggested that smuggling should be dealt with severely.
Some council members suggested that city leaders should widen their consumer base to raise competitiveness. They should also re-assess the effectiveness of state-owned enterprises and ensure that high standards are maintained.
According to Mr. Nguyen Dang Nghia, three things needed to be addressed immediately, namely the traffic system, water logging and pollution. Mr. Nghia said that the city needed to follow very strict principles on the use of pavements and also rearrange the bus system. He felt that the pavements needed to be cleared to set standards of organization and give the city a better look.
Mr. Nghia also expressed his concern about the 41 companies causing pollution which now need to be moved to suburban districts.
Deputy Le Quang Trung was particularly concerned about the pot- holes in streets which caused death traps. He thought that construction contractors must follow good ethical practices as neglecting these potholes would only cause more havoc in the next rainy season.
Deputies approved a resolution which included appropriate bonus for collaborators working on family planning projects and post drug rehabilitation, administrative boundary adjustments, ferry fees and land prices.
Council members chose the theme ‘the year of the child’ for 2011.
