On May 20, a working delegation of Hanoi City led by Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the City People's Committee Vu Dai Thang inspected the current status of Vinh Hang cemetery (Vat Lai commune) and listened to a general report on planning, investment and management of Vinh Hang and Yen Ky cemeteries (phase 1) and cemeteries in the city.
3 city-level cemeteries no longer have the capacity to receive more graves for burial
The report on planning, investment, management and use of people's cemeteries in the city by the Department of Home Affairs shows that the cemetery system is classified by management level including: Cemeteries managed by the city; cemeteries managed by the People's Committees of communes and wards (commune level) including regional cemeteries (previously district level).
Regarding the results of implementing the planning of the people's cemetery to date, Yen Ky Cemetery (old) and Thanh Tuoc Cemetery have run out of land, leaving only the activities of caring for graves and importing and selling graves that people have already bought; Van Dien Cemetery has been invested into a cemetery park model, only serving cremation and preservation of ashes.
Regarding the cemetery expansion projects, Vinh Hang Cemetery has completed both phases of expansion. The Department of Home Affairs in coordination with Ao Vua Joint Stock Company is accelerating the progress of infrastructure construction (completing 4,400 grave pits), meeting the needs of relocating graves to serve site clearance for major projects of the city.
Regarding the Yen Ky Cemetery Park expansion (phase 1), the project has been approved for investment policy by the City People's Committee with a scale of 203.18ha, implementation time from 2016 - 2019. This project is in the process of adjusting investment policy. The project implementation schedule is expected to be completed and put into operation within 36 months from the date of land allocation (phase 2026-2028).
Currently, 3 city-level cemeteries, Van Dien, Yen Ky, and Thanh Tuoc, are no longer capable of receiving more graves for burial. Initially, the grave fund is mainly concentrated in Vinh Hang Cemetery Park.
To ensure that the grave fund in the coming years serves the burial needs of the people and meets the needs of relocating graves to implement city projects, the Department of Home Affairs requests communes and wards to continue to review and statistically assess the needs of grave clearance for key projects of the city; advise and report promptly when needs arise exceeding the capacity of the cemetery land fund.
In the immediate future, urgently summarize data according to the document of the Department of Home Affairs sent to the Chairmen of the People's Committees of 16 communes: Hong Ha, O Dien, Thuong Cat, Dong Ngac, Phu Thuong, Linh Nam, Thanh Tri, Nam Phu, Hong Van, Me Linh, Thien Loc, Vinh Thanh, Dong Anh, Bo De, Long Bien, Bat Trang to provide information about cemeteries in the managed area affected in the process of implementing the Project to invest in the construction of the Red River Landscape Avenue.
Strictly control cemetery construction standards
Concluding the working session, Chairman of the City People's Committee Vu Dai Thang emphasized the requirement to innovate thinking in burial planning, considering this an important content in the urban development strategy, contributing to realizing the goal of building Hanoi into a "civilized, modern, and civilized" city in the spirit of Resolution No. 15-NQ/TW.
According to the Chairman of the City People's Committee, with the current population of about 10 million people and continuing to increase in the future, the annual burial demand of the Capital is very large. Therefore, without systematic and scientific planning, it will lead to the risk of wasting land funds, putting pressure on the environment and affecting the goal of sustainable urban development.
The city needs to build a suitable burial model, both ensuring environmental sanitation, saving land, and meeting the legitimate needs of people for their final resting place in accordance with regulations" - Mr. Vu Dai Thang emphasized.
The Chairman of the City People's Committee affirmed that caring for the funerals of people is not only a humanitarian issue but also an important part of urban management. The city will orient to limit the development of cemeteries using large areas, especially large-scale commercial models; and prioritize renovation, embellishment, and reasonable expansion of existing cemeteries in a synchronous, civilized, and land-saving direction.
Therefore, localities need to tighten management and strictly control cemetery construction standards, avoiding spontaneous and scattered burials, causing difficulties for planning and site clearance in the long term.
Regarding the Yen Ky Cemetery Park Project phase 1, the Chairman of the City People's Committee requested departments, branches and localities to focus on completely removing difficulties, accelerating site clearance progress according to the set roadmap; ensuring harmony of interests between the State, investors and people.
Relevant units need to focus on completing the set progress milestones, soon putting the project into operation to serve the burial and relocation needs of people and meet the requirements of implementing key projects of the city" - Chairman of the City People's Committee emphasized.
