Illegal land allocation, contractor appointment contrary to regulations
According to the conclusion of the Ca Mau Provincial Inspectorate, the Bac Lieu Trade Center Area Project (Old Thanh Gat Area) with a scale of more than 40,280m2, with an initial total investment of more than 21 billion VND, has had a series of violations right from the investment preparation stage.
In 1995, when there was no Land Allocation Decision from the Prime Minister, the Chairman of Minh Hai Provincial People's Committee (old) signed Decisions No. 187 and 188/QD-UB to recover land and hand over land to the Project Management Board. It was not until 1998 that the Prime Minister issued a land allocation decision. The previous land recovery and allocation was determined to exceed authority according to the 1993 Land Law.
Not only that, many decisions on land clearance and recovery issued by leaders of the old Minh Hai province and later the old Bac Lieu province were also determined by the Inspectorate to be beyond their authority.
Violations continued to be pointed out in the investor selection process. In August 1996, based on the proposal of the old Bac Lieu Town People's Committee, the Department of Planning and Investment and leaders of Minh Hai Provincial People's Committee agreed to allow Thai Duong Company to construct the project in the form of direct contractor appointment, without organizing bidding. This action is contrary to Joint Circular No. 03-TT/LB of 1995 of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Construction and the State Planning Committee on bidding.
Allowing the allocation of land in parts according to the actual investment value accepted for Thai Duong Company is also not consistent with the Prime Minister's Land Allocation Decision.
Proposal to definitively handle a project that has lasted for more than 3 decades
The project started in 1995, expected to be completed in 2000, but had to adjust the progress 4 times, extending to the end of 2010. However, from July 2009, the project completely stopped construction.
According to the inspection conclusion, the total realized value of the project only reached more than 13.1 billion VND. Many important items such as the central market, restaurants, water towers, Hoa Binh road drainage system, sidewalks and green trees are still unfinished after many years.
Notably, the dossier provided by the investor does not have quality management records for the construction items that have been constructed.
The Inspectorate determined that Thai Duong Company did not transfer funds to the Project Management Board for compensation and site clearance, and at the same time, the enterprise fell into a state of financial exhaustion, no longer having the ability to continue implementing the project. By March 2019, the enterprise had a document terminating the project implementation.
Regarding the land use fee of more than 14.9 billion VND of the project, there is currently no dossier proving that it has completed the obligation to pay to the state budget.
To remove the backlog project that has lasted for more than 30 years, the Inspectorate of Ca Mau province proposed that competent authorities direct the People's Committee of Bac Lieu ward, Ca Mau province to urgently work with Thai Duong Company to liquidate Economic Contract No. 05-95. In case no agreement is reached, the case needs to be transferred to the People's Court for settlement according to regulations.
The Inspectorate also proposed to soon determine the orientation for the project land area; consider handling land acquisition decisions issued beyond authority that cause obstacles to compensation work; decide whether to continue or terminate the project to choose a suitable investment plan, avoiding prolonging wastefulness.
At the same time, functional agencies need to review and fully recover outstanding financial obligations, clarify the land use fee of more than 14.9 billion VND that does not have dossiers proving that it has been paid to the budget; handle responsibilities for organizations and individuals who advised and issued decisions against regulations on land and investment through periods.
