Attending the meeting with voters were Ms. Nguyen Thi Le, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council; Major General Phan Van Xung, Political Commissar of the Ho Chi Minh City High Command.

Voters reflect on long-standing "suspended" projects that have not been implemented

Mr. Le Van Khoa, a voter in Phu My Hung commune, reported that he could not separate the land plot for his children to build a house, because the land was in the planning area for residential land combined with production. This is an issue that has been proposed many times but has not been satisfactorily resolved.

"As for housing projects built by people for many years in the commune, according to regulations, when people want to change the land use purpose, they must return the land to its current state as vacant land before the purpose can be changed. In my opinion, this will cause waste and damage to the people. I suggest that there be other solutions to ensure the people's assets," Mr. Khoa suggested.

In addition, in 2013, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee approved a 1/5000 scale zoning plan for an agricultural area combined with eco-tourism along the Saigon River passing through 8 communes of Cu Chi District, including Phu My Hung Commune, but the project has not yet been implemented. Mr. Khoa proposed that the National Assembly consider investing in the project soon, because it has been taking too long, causing frustration for people because they cannot change the land use purpose, and cannot apply for a construction permit to build a temporary house for their children because the land is in the planning area.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, a voter in Pham Van Coi commune, said that after participating in the Central Highlands battlefield and being discharged from the army, in 1994, he returned to live at Camp 979E (Pham Van Coi commune) for 30 years. In 2023, the People's Committee of Cu Chi district issued Notice No. 773 on land recovery, including Camp 979E and approved the detailed construction planning project at a scale of 1/2000 for the rural residential area of ​​Pham Van Coi commune - residential area No. 1, with an area of ​​144.23 hectares.

According to Mr. Binh, this repossession has left his family without a place to live, causing insecurity, the house is deteriorating and needs to be repaired but the procedures for applying for permission are not sufficient to do so. In addition to Mr. Binh, there are currently 32 households in similar situations living at camp 979E.

Mr. Ho Nhut Minh, a voter of Trung An commune, commented that the payment of allowances for non-professional positions in hamlets and neighborhoods has not yet been allocated funds for payment.

"The staff in charge of these tasks feel that they have not been given attention. In my opinion, the relevant departments and branches must be responsible for guiding and advising on funding for activities immediately after the hamlet is separated, but so far no one has done so. Next, in addition to the 5 positions in the hamlet with a specific structure, there is also a regulation that the number of people directly participating in activities in the neighborhood or hamlet must not exceed 4 people/neighborhood or hamlet. The monthly support level for people directly participating in activities in the neighborhood is applied at 0.30 times the basic salary/person/month, but there are no specific instructions yet," said Mr. Minh.

Ensuring rights for people in unimplemented planning projects

At the meeting, Ms. Nguyen Thi Le, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council, acknowledged and assessed that the opinions reflected by voters were very close to reality and directly related to people's lives.

"First of all, I request that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee pay attention and give specific instructions to proposals and recommendations on land use planning, construction and land division for land in the planning of residential land combined with production. Here, I request that the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment be more active in coordinating with relevant departments and branches to advise the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee on amending Decision 60. I remember that it has been 3 years since I ran for the National Assembly this term, from the reality of contacting voters, I recorded people's feedback that the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment kept making promises but did not fulfill them, we must frankly acknowledge the responsibility here," said Ms. Le.

According to the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council, her family in the countryside also encountered difficulties in changing the land use purpose, "trapped in a world of potatoes and tubers".

"We have to speed up now. If we just sit and follow the process, get opinions from here and there, and then argue about all sorts of things, it's too slow, while the practical needs are real. For example, there are families with a few hundred square meters of land but have to divide it among 5-7 children, and after a while, the land is too small to build a house. I suggest that we carefully survey the current reality in Ho Chi Minh City, especially the suburban districts," Ms. Le emphasized.

Regarding the planning of 10 subdivisions along the Saigon River, Ms. Le suggested that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee direct the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Architecture to coordinate with the Cu Chi District People's Committee to review the planning projects and have a report allowing planning adjustments, so that people in this area can change the land use purpose to residential land and grant construction permits. "The current suffering of the people is that the planning is suspended. Once the planning is done, there is nothing that can be done, it is immovable, there is no renovation, no gift," said Ms. Le.

At the same time, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council Nguyen Thi Le also requested relevant agencies to consider housing support policies for people affected by this project during the time the planning has not been implemented.