Relocating and converting the functions of Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park: An unprecedented "major surgery" full of challenges

Relocating and converting the functions of Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park: An unprecedented "major surgery" full of challenges - Part 1

Not only is it the first industrial park, Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park (Dong Nai) is also the first place to relocate and change its function due to pollution. There is no precedent and no policy, which has led to many challenges for this "historic surgery". Solving the problem will create a foundation for other industrial parks, and at the same time help authorities review their "vision" when planning urban and economic areas.

Lesson 1: More than 10 years of determination, but... confusion

Recently, Dong Nai province has made a decision to relocate and convert the Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park into an urban, service and commercial area; identifying this as one of the key priority projects. In fact, more than 10 years ago, Dong Nai had this “determination”, but the project only started on paper.

Saw it early… 15 years ago

Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park is located in a prime location right at the intersection of National Highway 1 and National Highway 51 - the gateway of the Southern region to neighboring provinces and to the Central provinces. This is also the first and oldest industrial park in the country, established in 1963, with the name Bien Hoa Industrial Park. After 1975, Bien Hoa Industrial Park was renamed Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park, with an area of ​​340 hectares.

Formed very early, Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park is considered the "cradle" of the Southern industry in general and Dong Nai in particular, with important contributions to the economic development of the Southern Key Economic Zone.

Panoramic view of Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park from above Photo: Le Toan

However, up to now, after 60 years of operation, with unsystematic investment, this industrial park has revealed many shortcomings.

According to the report of Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee, due to the inheritance of facilities from old factories before 1975, most of the current factories in Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park do not use land effectively. For factories with the ability to expand production, they have implemented new construction in a patchwork manner, while the rest have left the land vacant for a long time due to lack of plans to expand production and business. With the current production and business capacity, factories are also unlikely to be able to expand production activities, leading to low profitability on land.

Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park was established in 1963, with the name Bien Hoa Industrial Park. After 1975, it was renamed Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park. The industrial park has an area of ​​340 hectares, and is now 100% full.

There are currently 76 enterprises (6 foreign direct investment enterprises, 70 domestic enterprises) renting land for production.

Due to wastewater pollution from Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park flowing into Dong Nai River, since October 2009, the Government has agreed in principle to allow Dong Nai province to relocate this Industrial Park to another location.

In February 2014, the Prime Minister issued Document No. 260/TTg-KTN agreeing to the People's Committee of Dong Nai province to approve the Project to Convert Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park into an urban, commercial and service area.
In January 2021, the Prime Minister issued Document No. 111/TTg-CN approving the removal of Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park from the planning of Vietnam's industrial parks until 2020.

More worryingly, most of the wastewater from enterprises in Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park is discharged directly into the Dong Nai River without treatment. Data from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Dong Nai province shows that in 2009, Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park discharged about 15,000 m3 of wastewater per day. Of this, only 600 m3 were connected to Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Park for treatment, while the remaining 14,000 m3 of untreated wastewater was discharged directly into the Dong Nai River.

Because the industrial park's wastewater treatment system is old and cannot meet the needs of wastewater treatment, the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee assigned the Industrial Park Development Corporation (Sonadezi) to upgrade the infrastructure of this industrial park and Sonadezi has connected it to the nearby Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Park for treatment. However, due to the high, bumpy terrain here, connecting the wastewater treatment system is very difficult. After many infrastructure upgrades, by 2019, only about 1,000 m3 was connected to Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Park for treatment; a large amount of the remaining wastewater is still discharged into the Dong Nai River, polluting this river.

According to the analysis results of the Environmental Monitoring and Engineering Center (Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Dong Nai province), the water quality of Dong Nai river is heavily polluted with organic matter content, DO not meeting standards, N-NH4+, E.coli, Coliform exceeding standards. This will seriously affect the clean water supply for Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong...

The pollution situation of Dong Nai River became so serious that in 2013, the Ho Chi Minh City government was forced to issue a document requesting Dong Nai province to soon relocate Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park to save Dong Nai River and 20 million people living in the river basin, because Dong Nai River water is the source of domestic water for millions of people in Ho Chi Minh City through Thu Duc Water Plant, Tan Hiep Water Plant and Binh An Water Plant.

Then 10 years of… confusion

It was not until the Ho Chi Minh City government issued a document "crying to heaven" about the environmental pollution in the Dong Nai River due to wastewater discharged from Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park that the Government agreed in October 2009 to allow Dong Nai province to relocate this Industrial Park to another location. In February 2014, the Prime Minister issued Document No. 260/TTg-KTN agreeing to allow Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee to approve the Project to Convert Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park into an urban, commercial and service area.

Despite the Government's approval, 7 years later, Dong Nai is still struggling to relocate, even though it has been included in the list of priority investment projects.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Nguyen, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Dong Nai province, said that the province has considered many options, of which relocating Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park is the most optimal option, not only to overcome environmental pollution for Dong Nai, but also for neighboring localities, especially Ho Chi Minh City.

And the reason for the delay in relocation, according to the Department of Planning and Investment, is that this is the first industrial park relocation project in the country, and no other place has converted an industrial park into an urban area, so the locality is also confused. When the Government approved the relocation in 2014, it was not until 2017 that the Project was completed and submitted to the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee for approval. At this time, the Land Law, Bidding Law, Investment Law, Environmental Protection Law and related regulations were no longer consistent with the developed project.

In particular, assigning Sonadezi as the investor without bidding is not in accordance with regulations. Furthermore, according to the Law on Environmental Protection issued in 2014, if an enterprise is classified as a special polluter, it will need time to fix it and a roadmap for conversion. Therefore, applying the regulations of 10 years ago to convert the function of Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park is no longer in accordance with current regulations.

Dong Nai issues "ultimatum"

At the end of February 2024, Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee once again issued Decision No. 324/QD-UBND approving the Project to Convert Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park into an urban, commercial and service area. According to the approved Project, Dong Nai issued an "ultimatum" to relocate Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park with the final deadline being the end of December 2025.

The relocation is divided into 2 phases. Phase I (to be completed before December 2024) will relocate and clear the entire area of ​​10 companies and part of the area of ​​4 other companies. These enterprises are mainly in Zone I (adjacent to An Hao Bridge), with an area of ​​75.1 hectares. Phase II (to be completed before December 2025) will relocate all remaining enterprises.

After approving the Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park Conversion Project, currently, the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee has assigned departments and branches such as the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to advise on solutions to support site clearance; the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to advise on solutions to support workers...

“It is expected that the compensation and support plan for businesses and workers when relocating will be submitted by the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee to the People's Council for approval in the second quarter of 2024. After the compensation and support plan is approved, relevant authorities will inform businesses to take the initiative in relocating,” informed Mr. Nguyen Huu Nguyen, Director of the Dong Nai Department of Planning and Investment.

According to the latest approval of the Project to Convert the Function of Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park into an Urban, Commercial and Service Area by the People's Committee of Dong Nai Province, there will be two investment projects here, including the Dong Nai Provincial Political - Administrative Center area (area of ​​about 44 hectares) and Bien Hoa 1 Urban - Service Area (area of ​​more than 286 hectares).

The objective of the Project is to build a new civilized, modern and sustainably developed urban - service - commercial area, creating a distinctive aesthetic appearance for the area in general and Bien Hoa City in particular. At the same time, improve the environment, limit water pollution of the Dong Nai river system.

At the Dong Nai Provincial Political - Administrative Center Project, the projects of the Provincial Police Headquarters (area of ​​nearly 6 hectares) and the State Audit Office Headquarters of Region XIII, area of ​​0.5 hectares, are being implemented.

  At Bien Hoa 1 Urban - Service Area Project, there are 2 existing works proposed to be retained, including Sonadezi building (area of ​​about 1.2 ha) and Technical Center for Standards, Measurement and Quality 3 (area of ​​about 2.2 ha).

(To be continued)

Source: https://baodautu.vn/di-doi-chuyen-doi-cong-nang-khu-cong-nghiep-bien-hoa-1-cuoc-dai-phau-chua-tien-le-ngap-thach-thuc---bai-1-d214425.html