Abandoned billion dollar headquarters
Deterioration and long-term abandonment are the common realities of the headquarters of the Commune Cultural and Sports Center and the People's Committee of Que Cuong Commune, Que Son District, Quang Nam Province. In particular, the Commune Cultural and Sports Center was built on an area of over 8,700m2, costing over 3.4 billion VND, and put into use in 2017. By 2020, when Que Cuong Commune merged with Phu Tho Commune to form the new Que My Commune, these two headquarters fell into a state of closed doors and deserted.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, a resident of Que My commune (name changed) said that since the merger, these two headquarters have not been used anymore, so they have not been maintained, causing the buildings to quickly deteriorate and fall into disrepair.
According to the leader of the new Que My commune, after the merger, local administrative and cultural agencies moved to the new commune, leaving many old offices abandoned and for many years no effective solution for their use has been found.
Similarly, the office of the People's Committee of Que Phuoc commune, old Nong Son district (now Que Son district, Quang Nam) with 3 spacious buildings including: 2-storey main building, cultural and sports center hall and one-stop department... with about 20 working rooms is quite new, but is currently being used by people as a warehouse for firewood and soft drink bottles.
According to local leaders, this headquarters was put into use in 2018, with a construction cost of 4.9 billion VND. In February 2020, when Nong Son district merged Que Phuoc and Que Ninh communes into Ninh Phuoc commune, all administrative agencies moved to the new commune, leaving the Que Phuoc commune headquarters abandoned after only 2 years of use. The locality was also concerned about the abandoned office but was helpless.
Can't use it, can't rent it out either.
According to Resolution No. 1241/NQ-UBTVQH15 of the National Assembly on the arrangement of district and commune-level administrative units of Quang Nam province, from January 1, 2025, Nong Son district was officially merged into Que Son district, establishing the new Que Son district.
“In Nong Son, in addition to the very grand and large-scale district People’s Committee headquarters, there are also offices of departments, divisions, units, vertical agencies… that are redundant after the merger. We are wondering, not yet able to imagine who will transfer them to, how to use them” - a representative of the Quang Nam Provincial Department of Finance admitted that it will take a long time to arrange the use of these offices.
Chairman of Que Son District People's Committee Nguyen Van Hoa said that if you want to exploit the headquarters of Nong Son district (old), you have to include it in the land use planning, adjust the general planning of Trung Phuoc town, register the list, adjust the land use unit, if you want to sell or auction it, you have to wait for the province's approval...
The options considered, such as handing over the offices to the commune level or the education sector, are also not feasible, because the district-level offices are very grand and large-scale, so if left for the communes to use, they will not be able to fully utilize their functions. Not to mention, the communes already have complete headquarters and cultural institutions.
The solution for units and businesses to rent is also not feasible due to the regulation that public headquarters cannot be rented to private individuals.
Responding to Lao Dong reporters about solutions for arranging and using surplus offices, Chairman of Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee Le Van Dung said that it would be difficult to say that there is absolutely no waste. However, the province will try to arrange and use this asset to the maximum extent possible to avoid wasting offices and land.
“I feel very sad when I pass by an abandoned office, no matter the reason. Currently, the Provincial People's Committee has assigned the Department of Finance to develop a project, and the department will consult on many solutions. Accordingly, priority will be given to any place that can be reasonably arranged for an agency, because if left empty, it will be a waste of both the office and the land. The policy for redundant offices after the merger must be calculated to avoid waste,” said Mr. Le Van Dung.
