‘Ha Noi - Your Destination' contest winners honoured

HA NOI — Winners of the "Ha Noi - Your Destination" writing contest for expatriates in Viet Nam were honoured at the Opera House yesterday.

The 1,000 years of Thang Long-Ha Noi was the theme of this year's contest, testing knowledge of the capital's history and culture. Palestine's Ambassador to Viet Nam Saadi Salama was awarded a special prize for his work on Ha Noi's people, written in Vietnamese.

First prize was awarded to LaxmishaRai Arvar Ragunatha from India. Five second prizes, 10 third prizes and 20 consolation prizes were also given. Group prizes went to the International Student Centre, Ha Noi University and the Russian High School.

Speaking at the event, Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, vice chairperson of the city People's Committee, expressed her thanks to the expatriates in the capital, especially for their role in this celebration and their contributions to preserving the city.

Also at the ceremony, the chief of UNESCO representatives in Viet Nam, Latherine Muller Marin, the chairman of the French Heritage Union, Philippe Chaplain, and the Palestinian Ambassador to Viet Nam suggested solutions to preserve cultural values.

Over a six-month period, the contest received 1,789 responses from both individuals and organisations written in six languages, including Chinese, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian and English. The contest has been held annually since 2000 for foreigners and Vietnamese people living abroad.

The organising committee selects a different topic each year, though all are aimed at acquainting foreigners and overseas Vietnamese with the culture and history of the capital city.

The Ha Noi Union of Friendship Organisations and the city People's Committee joined hands in making preparations for the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Ha Noi as well as in helping a large number of foreigners better understand the country's history and culture by sponsoring the annual contest. — VNS

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Resettlement areas plan approved

HCM CITY — The HCM City People's Committee has approved a plan to develop two resettlement areas for residents who are living in Binh Khanh and An Thoi Dong communes in Can Gio District, two areas that are at risk of landslides.

Under the detailed plan, residents living in those communes will be moved to Co Dau and Ca Chay resettlement areas in Binh Khanh and An Thoi Dong communes, respectively.

The city People's Committee has urged Can Gio District People's Committee to submit a plan to develop infrastructure projects in the Co Dau and Ca Chay resettlement areas according to the standards set by the Government for "new rural areas".

In addition, the Can Gio District People's Committee has been asked to complete and submit the audited accounts of the projects' costs to the city committee as soon as possible.

The city committee has also approved a proposal from the city's Department of Finance to offer each resettled household a 100-square-metre plot of land.

Resettled households would be exempted from paying land-use fees.

Resettled households will also receive VND40 million (US$2,100) to cope with any natural calamities, according to the plan.

The city's Department of Planning and Architecture was also asked to conduct research on and design houses or apartments for resettled households in accordance with the standards for the new rural areas. The findings are expected to be submitted to the city by early this month.

The city's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs is responsible for conducting research on special cases of poor households that must be resettled.

In addition to these projects, the HCM City People's Committee has approved another plan to build 500 resettlement apartments for families displaced by the project to urbanise the Thu Thiem Bridge area, and 850 apartments for a resettlement project in Ward 12 in Binh Thanh District.

The city committee has asked Binh Thanh District People's Committee to work with departments and agencies to draft a detailed plan on how to move households who live along rivers and canals in the district.

The families will have to be resettled to make way for a project to upgrade Thanh Da residential area in Ward 27 in Binh Thanh District.

The district committee has been urged to finish the projects by 2015. — VNS

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Low-income housing priority, says City leader

HCM CITY — Building houses for poor and low income people will be a priority in HCM City's housing development programme for the 2011-15 period with a vision until 2030, the city mayor said on Wednesday.

Le Hoang Quan, chairman of HCM City People's Committee, said at a conference held in the city on housing development that programmes play an important role in ensuring sustainable socio-economic development.

Quan said that for the next five years, the city would focus on building both social houses – which are sold at subsidised prices – and affordable houses at market prices. HCM City has targeted to build nearly 17,000 additional apartments for the poor and people with low income by 2015.

Of this, 10,000 apartments will be built and sold to people with low income and 6,896 apartments for poor people, including Government officials, manual workers, students and others.

The city will also build and repair 65 downgraded apartment buildings with 7,242 apartments.

It will implement 14 additional projects with 6,562 apartments for Government officials.

The total construction area for building apartments for low-income people has been fixed at 1.4 million square metres while 600,000sq.m has been allotted for students.

From 2006-10, a total area of 1,358,000sq.m was used to build houses or apartments for unskilled manual workers, according to HCM City People's Committee.

Five projects to build dormitories on areas of 612,000sq.m for university students are being been developed and will be finished by next year, accommodating 67,000 students.

HCM City also plans to develop 132 resettlement projects with the cooperation of 33,568 companies or agencies. These projects will turn out 22,472 apartments and 11,095 plots of land.

The city will also build more hospitals, schools, and markets in resettlement areas, Quan said.

Nguyen Van Hong, deputy director of the city's Department of Natural Resources and Environment, asked the city to encourage and create favourable conditions for businesses to invest in housing products and ensure the market has enough supply.

HCM City plans to increase the per capita housing area, the conference heard. — VNS

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