The 5-star hotel and serviced apartment complex À La Carte Ha Long suffered heavy damage when the glass was broken by storm No. 3. Without specifying the exact amount of damage, Mr. Do Ngoc Thanh, Deputy General Director of Taseco Group, the project investor, said it could be up to hundreds of billions of VND. The immeasurable damage is the delay in putting the project into operation, causing the business to lose opportunities and cash flow, while still having to pay salaries to workers.
Immediately after the storm ended, the company informed partners and travel agencies about the expected time for the hotel to be put into operation after 3-3.5 months, because it would take at least 1.5 months to wait for equipment to be imported from abroad and 1.5-2 months to complete construction.
At the seminar “Overcoming the consequences of storm No. 3 – What support for people and businesses” held on the morning of October 1, Mr. Thanh said that despite many years of experience in dealing with storms and careful preparation, the destructive power of Yagi was beyond the structure’s ability to withstand.
“The hotel’s glass system is definitely the best type used for high-rise buildings, not only the best in Vietnam but also the best in the world,” Mr. Thanh affirmed. The entire glass system was imported from abroad and designed by the world’s leading prestigious design unit. The investor invited the Construction Science Institute of the Ministry of Construction to inspect the entire design and test the wind strength of storms according to Vietnamese standards and regulations. The construction contractor is also a leading unit in Vietnam.
According to Mr. Thanh, hundreds of glass windows were broken, causing severe damage to the interior of the apartments, leaving almost only the frames. The investor committed to supporting the entire cost of repairing and completing the interior of the apartments of affected customers.
Most of the apartments in the project are used by customers for accommodation services, the source of money to pay off bank loans comes from renting out the apartments. Statistics show that more than 100 customers who bought apartments here borrowed from banks.
Mr. Thanh said that although insurance companies came to inspect the site and assess the damage, the company has not yet received any compensation from the insurance company. The investor is still providing documents to the insurance companies. The assessment related to compensation for damage is slow, leading to a delay in purchasing new equipment.
Representative of another enterprise in Ha Long, Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc, Deputy General Director of Ha Long Housing Development Investment Joint Stock Company No. 6 (Handico 6 Ha Long, investor of Green Diamond Ha Long project) said that the project has 123 apartments affected, of which 23 are severely damaged, the owners have to temporarily move to a new place. All elevators, automatic parking systems are affected, trees in the project area are destroyed. The total damage is about more than 10 billion VND.
After 7 days, the company completely restored the elevator system and fire protection system, and has so far repaired about 100 apartments. Immediately after the storm, the insurance company came down to count and determine the damage to serve as a basis for determining compensation for the business.
“After the storm passed, we had a meeting and drew lessons for dealing with future storms. The important lesson is to promote community spirit among residents, one house supporting another; establish rescue teams on each floor; if we only rely on the management board and the investor, we cannot provide timely support.
At the same time, we also draw out notes in choosing materials for future projects, as well as how to design the ventilation system to ensure safety and choose suitable construction trees," said Mr. Duc.
Speaking at the discussion, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Son, Vice Chairman of Ha Long City People's Committee, said that the total direct damage to assets of businesses and people in Ha Long due to storm No. 3 was estimated at about 19,500 billion VND. The total damage to the entire Quang Ninh province was 25,000 billion VND.
After 3 days since the storm, Ha Long has basically cleared all the streets and welcomed tourists back. From September 11-15, Ha Long welcomed over 22,000 tourists, including 18,800 international visitors, bringing the total number of tourists to Ha Long since the beginning of the year to 9.2 million, equal to 133% compared to the same period last year.
To support people and businesses to recover production and business, the Ha Long City government has many solutions. In the remaining 3 months of 2024, it will focus resources, synchronize solution groups and spend 474 billion VND to implement short-term solutions. In 2025, it will focus on solutions to rebuild the city, deploy key projects, including the proposal to build a fishing logistics service area and storm shelter worth about 500 billion VND.
There are still many tourist and fishing boats that have sunk in Ha Long Bay and cannot be salvaged. The city has offered 50 million VND in support for fishermen to salvage their boats. However, there are no specific policies to support funding from the state budget for salvage of sunken tourist boats.
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