This situation needs to be seen as an opportunity to evaluate the capacity of public asset management and the ability to plan long-term development strategies of local governments.
The rearrangement of public headquarters taking place in localities clearly shows where they are proactive, creative and dare to act; where they are still passive, mechanical and waiting for instructions.
Some provinces choose to continue using the old headquarters until they are fully depreciated. Some localities flexibly rearrange functions to suit the reality of each area. On the contrary, there are also places where a series of headquarters have been exposed to the sun and rain for many years, which is both wasteful and offensive in the eyes of the people.
One of the measures of the effectiveness of organizational reform is the way to handle public assets after streamlining. If the merger stops at cutting units, without properly rearranging assets, it will not be a real reform.
Public headquarters, after all, are also a form of development resource. Good management is profitable and serves the community. Poor management becomes a burden, even creating long-term consequences for maintenance costs, security, and urban aesthetics.
An old headquarters can be completely converted into a cultural house, library, community activity spot, startup facility... if there is enough political determination and a flexible accompanying mechanism.
The problem is, many cadres are afraid of mistaken handling, afraid of inspection and auditing, so choosing a safe solution is... not doing anything.
If this situation continues, it will lose the opportunity to take advantage of resources, especially in the context of difficult local budgets and increasingly scarce inner-city land funds.
Regarding policy, the Ministry of Finance has a clear orientation: Prioritize the use of surplus headquarters for public purposes such as healthcare, education, culture; or arrange for many common-use agencies.
This is the right direction, but it needs to be accompanied by transparent regulations on valuation, bidding, conversion of functions... so that localities can be proactive while still ensuring the principle of publicity, preventing losses.
Finally, to effectively solve the problem of surplus headquarters, a new thinking in management is needed. That is the mindset of shifting from ownership to effective use.
It is not necessary to keep the original function, as long as that public asset is put into operation to serve the common good, make a profit for the budget, or create new value for the community.
Don't let empty headquarters become a symbol of stagnation.
