A golfer tees off at the Van Tri Golf Club in Hanoi.

The Vietnamese government could revoke the licenses of 10 golf courses in Hanoi if it approves a recently announced plan by the city’s People’s Committee.

The plan will be forwarded to relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Investment and Planning, before being submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

The still-to-be-constructed Me Tri Sport & Amusement Complex on the cancellation list, near the National Convention Center in Tu Liem District, has only 10 of its total 32 hectares set aside for a nine-hole golf course. It was given an investment license in 2007 and the majority of the site is currently being used for growing rice.

Three other projects on the cancellation list that are being used for rice paddies are the Tuan Chau– Ha Tay ecotourism and amusement park, Chuong My Temple Lake Golf & Resort, and Ho Cam Quy, an exclusive golf resort and amusement complex.

The six others are Me Linh golf & urban area; Ho Dong Suong golf course; Phu Man ecotourism and golf urban area; Long Bien ecotourism and golf urban area; Thanh Tri golf resort, and Meo Gu international golf course.

Nine not on the list

The Tan Vien international tourism zone project in Ba Vi District, which envisages taking more than 1,200 hectares in the Suoi Hai Stream area, was one of nine not threatened, VietNamNet said.

The project will eject 359 hectares of cattle and chicken farms to construct the first 158-hectare stage including an 18-hole golf course, a resort, a club house and villas.

The others include the Soc Son international golf course, Long Bien golf and services, Ho Quan Son ecotourism and a golf course in the Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park plus Hanoi, Van Tri, Dong Mo and Ho Van Son golf courses.

The Hanoi People’s Committee said they would ensure the nine would operate properly and pay their taxes.

“The Hanoi, Van Tri, Dong Mo and Ho Van Son [golf course] projects had been designed on poor farming lands, mountainous terrain or flooded areas,” a top Hanoi official said.

He also said the committee had ordered an environmental impact assessment of Hanoi and Van Tri golf courses which they passed.

Earlier, the city had earmarked a total area of 6,362 hectares for 17 of its 19 golf course projects, including the 10 that could be axed. Two projects were yet to make a detailed plan to verify the area required.

Around 2,200 hectares were for golf courses and 950 hectares for water bodies while the rest, more than half of the total area, was planned for subsidiary construction like villas, restaurants, trading centers, urban areas and parks.

Abused golf courses

The city committee said it would closely inspect the projects and may rezone parts of golf course projects that were planned for non-golfing developments like villas and trade centers.

During a National Assembly session in June, Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc had proposed the National Assembly instruct provincial localities to abort nearly a third of golf course projects nationwide.

He said there was no reason to use rice-growing land to build golf courses and proposed cancellation of 50 out of 166 projects under implementation or approved for construction.

Ton Gia Huyen from the Vietnam Land Science Association said at a conference in Hanoi in May that only two thirds of the land in a lot of the projects was being used for golf.

The rest was reserved for resorts, hotels, villas, eco-tourism areas, parks and recreational areas serving the courses, she said.

Land rent for golf courses is much lower than for areas for villas, houses and trade centers, so many of the investors have exploited this by selling real estate developments to recoup their capital quicker.

Huyen said the use of farmland for golf courses would surely create a land scarcity for farmers and damage local agricultural systems.

Source: TN, Agencies