Unfinished project in Ho Chi Minh City for 20 years, please re-implement

Nha Be District has proposed that Ho Chi Minh City re-grant a license to re-implement the Tan An Huy residential area project, after nearly 20 years of being unfinished due to violations.

Recently, the People’s Committee of Nha Be District has sent a report to the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate, recommending that Tan An Huy Company be allowed to re-implement the Tan An Huy residential area project (Phuoc Kien Commune, Nha Be).

According to the report, in 2005, Tan An Huy Company was assigned land by the city to build the Tan An Huy residential area project with a scale of 20.8 hectares, providing accommodation for about 5,500 residents with items including 313 villas, garden houses and 1,025 apartments. By 2017, after building 14 low-rise houses, the company’s legal representative died due to illness, and the company was no longer able to operate due to financial imbalance.

In 2018, the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate inspected and concluded that the project had a series of serious violations such as: the investor owed more than 210 billion VND in taxes, built 14 townhouses without permission and against planning, did not complete compensation for site clearance, completed infrastructure but mobilized capital from customers… The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee requested the investor to correct the violations, pay taxes and other financial and legal obligations before considering and resolving procedures for the company to continue implementing the project.

Since then, the project has been inactive, many construction items have deteriorated due to being abandoned for many years, hundreds of customers have suffered losses, causing waste of land resources and damaging the urban appearance of Nha Be district.

Tan An Huy residential area project in Nha Be district, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dinh Son

Regarding the handling of outstanding issues at the project, Nha Be District People’s Committee said that Tan An Huy Company has sent a representative to work with the authorities, report on the project’s progress, and propose solutions to remove difficulties. However, this investor has not yet paid the state budget taxes and late payment fees of VND 181 billion, and other obligations related to the exchange of state-managed land. The enterprise has also not completed the construction of infrastructure, compensation for site clearance, and dispute resolution with customers.

Earlier this year, the project investor began re-construction of technical infrastructure items, carried out compensation for site clearance for the entire low-rise housing area, and is seeking approval to adjust the 1/500 planning to add a basement. If approved, the 14 previously built houses will no longer be in violation.

Regarding the financial plan, this company also has a plan to pay 50% of the tax within 6 months if it is granted permission to re-implement, and the remaining tax will be paid in the next 6 months.

To gradually resolve the project’s backlog, Nha Be District People’s Committee proposed that Ho Chi Minh City consider resolving issues related to planning, construction, and land so that the investor has more financial plans to fulfill tax obligations and other obligations. The district also proposed that the City Inspectorate and related departments and branches agree on a plan to remove difficulties and obstacles of the investor to soon grant a license for Tan An Huy Company to re-implement the project.

Previously, in the application to re-implement the project sent to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee and the city’s Special Working Group, Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tan An Huy Company, said that the project had completed more than 60% of the work volume, and now only the construction of low-rise housing areas and completion of infrastructure are needed to complete the project.

The company said that it has a good financial plan with capital mobilized from customers and additional capital contributed by the Board of Directors. This amount will be used to pay the original tax and late payment penalties, fulfill financial obligations, continue to clear the land, complete infrastructure construction, repay debts to partners, and other reasonable costs. Therefore, the company hopes to restart soon and commits to resolving outstanding issues as soon as it is re-implemented.