Lawmakers grill construction minister about “hot” issues
Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha on June 5 continued taking the podium to answer questions raised by legislators, including those related to the construction of too many high-rise buildings in big cities, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Minister ofConstruction Pham Hong Ha on June 5 continued taking the podium to answerquestions raised by legislators, including those related to the construction oftoo many high-rise buildings in big cities, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi MinhCity.
On the second day of the Q&A sessionof the 14th National Assembly’s seventh sitting, Nguyen Minh Duc, adeputy from HCM City, cited a NA report revealing that the planning density ofHanoi and HCM City has been adjusted from 24.6 percent to 40 percent, with theaverage height of tall buildings increasing from 20 to 40 storeys.
The adjustment has changed master plansof the cities and caused pressure on urban planning and transportinfrastructure, he said.
Duc asked for clarification of theConstruction Minister’s responsibility for the fact that foreign investors andforeigners joined hands with Vietnamese to conduct illegal property trading andtransfer, which have violated legal regulations on real estate management.
In reply, Ha said the People’sCommittees of Hanoi and HCM City have to adjust the height and density of tallbuildings in line with planning schemes approved by the Prime Minister.
Regarding the second issue raised byDuc, he said Vietnam has issued legal regulations allowing foreignorganisations and individuals to buy and possess houses in the country.
The Ministries of National Defence andPublic Security also devised regulations on the areas that need to be zoned offto ensure national defence and security in order to manage the issue, he said.
The minister emphasised that the currentlegal regulations ban foreigners from buying houses in the names of Vietnamesecitizens in the country. According to the Ministry of Public Security, therehave been cases in which foreigners bought houses in Vietnamese’s names but ithas yet to grasp the number and specific names.
The Government has assigned the Ministriesof Construction and Public Security and localities to clarify the problem andpropose solutions, he said, adding the supervision of real estate transactionsand residence of foreigners in localities will be tightened.-VNA
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Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha (Photo: VNA) 
