Market completed but cannot operate yet
In March 2016, the Chairman of Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee approved Anh Viet My Joint Stock Company to invest in the Sa Huynh market project combined with a commercial - service housing area in Pho Thanh commune, Duc Pho town. The project is built on an area of 2,187m2, scale 1 ground floor, 1 floor with 322 business locations; the commercial - service housing area includes 57 land plots around the market, height from 1 to 3 floors with a total investment of about 40.3 billion VND.
Although it has been completed since the end of 2018, Sa Huynh New Market is still closed and not operating. Reporters' records show that while Sa Huynh New Market is considered the most spacious in Sa Huynh ward, it is "inactive", and small traders still have to take advantage of the sidewalks and roadsides in front of the market to trade.
A small trader said that when the market was just completed, she registered to do business, but after the market was built, it... closed, no one announced the reason.
Notably, Anh Viet My Joint Stock Company previously planned to transfer the assets of the new Sa Huynh market to Duc Pho town (old), but so far the transfer has not been carried out due to legal obstacles, although the project has been concluded by the Government Inspectorate. According to the inspection conclusion, the Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee's approval of the investor to approve the investment policy decision without organizing auctions or bidding for land-using projects is a violation of the Land Law and the Bidding Law. At the same time, the investment policy decision of the project is not consistent with the land use plan and continues to violate the Land Law.
According to a reporter's source, the Sa Huynh market project combined with a commercial - service housing area in Pho Thanh commune is one of 7 violating projects that the Government Inspectorate has transferred information to the Ministry of Public Security for consideration according to its authority.
In Quang Ngai, there are currently about 65 projects facing difficulties and obstacles, leading to slow progress and causing great waste, including 50 residential area and urban area projects; 4 commercial - service projects; 11 projects in other fields.
A typical example is the Tinh Phong Commercial - Service and Residential Area Project, invested by the Project Management Board for Investment, Construction and Land Development of Son Tinh district (old). The project has a total capital of more than 70 billion VND, implemented from 2017 - 2019 on an area of nearly 5ha, including items: Leveling, building a market area (4 kiosks, cages with 60 counters), transportation system, drainage, lighting, water supply, wastewater treatment, fire prevention and fighting...
However, after 8 years of implementation, the project is still in a deadlock. Currently, this area has only built some basic items such as cages, traffic roads, drainage systems... and has been abandoned for many years, seriously degraded.
Proposing special mechanisms to remove "knotholes
Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh - Deputy Director of the Department of Finance of Quang Ngai province - said that in the past time, the province has attracted and licensed many projects. However, during the implementation process, some projects encountered legal obstacles, leading to prolongation and slow progress.
To remove prolonged backlogs, Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee has established a Steering Committee to review and remove difficulties for backlog projects according to Decision No. 76/QD-UBND dated September 15, 2025, headed by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.
After its establishment, the Steering Committee urgently reviewed each project, reported to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance and central ministries and branches, and proposed to apply a special mechanism - similar to some other localities - to remove difficulties for 65 projects that are "stuck".
Currently, Quang Ngai province continues to review and update the list of problematic projects and is waiting for the direction of the Prime Minister and central agencies. After having a mechanism to remove obstacles, the Provincial People's Committee will apply current laws combined with special mechanisms to thoroughly handle and put projects into operation, avoiding prolonging waste and public outrage.
