Ineffective operations
Phuong Duc Ward, Thuan Hoa District (Hue City) has a tradition of bronze casting for more than 400 years, formed during the Nguyen Dynasty. The artifacts such as the Nguyen Dynasty bronze fountain, the Imperial Academy of Thien Mu Pagoda, and the miniature festival at the Hue Imperial Citadel were all made by local artisans.
In 2005, the Hue Traditional copper casting village product introduction center was built on Bui Thi Xuan street, Phuong Duc ward with a budget of 4.5 billion VND. This is a place to display, introduce and promote traditional Hue bronze casting products.
The project is over 4,300m2 wide, including two kiosks for households displaying copper products and a main building introducing the development history of the craft. After completing the construction, the People's Committee of Hue City (old) assigned the People's Committee of Phuong Duc Ward to manage. At that time, there were 7 tenants registered to do business in bronze casting products here.
After many years of establishment and operation, most of the domestic visitors come to this center to shop for bronze worship items such as lanterns, bells... There are almost no visitors, except for a few students who come to visit and research, leading to ineffective introduction and promotion activities.
Therefore, the People's Committee of Hue City (old) has reclaimed real estate assets, households have to return the premises and move the exhibition facilities to other bronze casting locations or rent other premises.
In early 2022, the locality decided to reclaim and adjust the assets of the real estate area of the Center for Introducing copper casting products from the People's Committee of Phuong Duc Ward and hand it over to the Hue City Land Fund Development Center for management.
Stop operations and then abandon
After receiving it, the Land Fund Development Center coordinated with relevant units to develop a project to use public assets for leasing, joint ventures, and associations to submit to the People's Committee of Thua Thien - Hue province (now Hue city) for consideration and approval, but the proposal was not suitable.
Therefore, for many years, the Hue Traditional copper casting village product introduction center has not been used and has been abandoned, causing many people to regret. According to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, the center currently has no gate or fence in front, so anyone can enter or exit.
Currently, the project has no one to look after or protect it, becoming an area for grazing and keeping people's livestock. Around the center, weeds grow wildly. Garbage covers the paths, making the center shabby and polluted. Meanwhile, the lighting system was also damaged, covered with moss, and some were destroyed. The kiosks used to be places to display traditional bronze casting products, and were once bustling with people coming to discuss buying and selling during closed hours, causing many houses to deteriorate, some ceilings to peel off, and cement pieces to fall.
Ms. Truong Thanh Lan - a resident - said that when witnessing the current status of the Hue Traditional copper casting village product introduction center, she could not help but feel heartbroken and regretful.
"The buildings are still quite solid, looking very new, but the space here is really polluted. When I walked inside, I felt a foul smell, besides the waste, there were many needles with blood and stains, which was too unsightly" - Ms. Lan said.
According to the Hue City Department of Finance, the unit has sent a document to the Hue City People's Committee requesting the Thuan Hoa District People's Committee to study a suitable plan. If there is no need to use it for public purposes, this asset should be transferred to the competent authority for management and exploitation in accordance with legal regulations.
