Building ministry urges stop work on park hotel

      The Ministry of Construction has recommended that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stop the building of a five-storey hotel in Ha Noi’s Thong Nhat Park.
The ministry’s suggestion was made a month after Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung asked it to assess the building of the hotel in possibly the capital’s most spacious park.
The building of the hotel - work on which has already started - sparked heated debate.
The ministry’s recommendation is based on two factors:
Ha Noi’s lack of green space - just 0.9 sq.m per person against the international standard of 16sq.m; and the lack of public support as required by the regulations for urban management.
The ministry also says the park has great cultural and historical importance.
The ministry says the Ha Noi People’s Committee now has the responsibility of totalling the costs to the investor in the hotel and deciding compensation for the developer.
It suggests the committee co-operate with the relevant agencies to find another site for the investor.
The People’s Committee approved the US$46 million four-star hotel on 1ha of the park’s northwest corner 18 years ago.
A licence for a joint venture between the Hanoitourist Corporation and SIH Investment Limited (Singapore) to build the hotel was issued 1996.
The Ha Noi People’s Committee announced at a news conference on February 13 that the site was not part of the public park.
But former Construction Minister Pham Sy Liem said that although the Hai Ba Trung District planners had put the land outside the park, Government planning showed it within the invaluable green space.