LookAtVietnam – A shortage of qualified staff at the district level in HCM City has led to ineffective urban planning, city planners said at a public hearing.

The department has only 58 officials, including seven experts on urban infrastructure and technologies, while the offices of the 23 districts have a total of only 341 experts.

Large-scale and small-scale urban planning in each district was carried out under united programmes, so it was ineffective, Doan Nhat, deputy chairman of Binh Chanh District’s People’s Committee, said.

Nhat said his district, for example, had set aside land to build schools, industrial areas or other facilities, but had to alter plans because of large-scale planning, such as a road or other major infrastructure project.

Truong Trong Nghia, deputy head of the city council’s Committee for Economic and Social Affairs, said the city should acknowledge the limited ability of the districts to carry out detailed planning at a scale of 1:2000, and limit such activities at the district level.

The city’s Department of Planning and Architecture was overloaded with work, checking and approving small-scale planning at the district level, often leading to delayed projects, he said.

Nguyen Trong Hoa, head of HCM City’s Research and Development Institute, said the Ministry of Construction’s decision to assign responsibility for small-scale planning to districts was not prudent.

Huynh Tan Pham, a District 12 official, asked authorities to set aside resettlement areas for households that have to move when the city implemented large-scale plans.

“It is important that resettlement areas are improved,” he said.

Attendees at the conference urged that rights and benefits for residents who must resettled should be ensured.

Pham Phuong Thao, chairwoman of the city’s People’s Council, said in their next public meeting, the People’s Committee should report about the progress of urban planning.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News