Ho Chi Minh City People's Council considers plan to merge 80 wards and super project of more than 500km metro

The plan to merge 80 wards and the project to build more than 500km of metro was reported by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council at the 17th session, which opened on the morning of July 15.

Ho Chi Minh City aims to complete 6 Metro lines by 2035. Photo: Anh Tu

According to the plan to arrange commune-level administrative units in the 2023 - 2030 period in Ho Chi Minh City, there are 80 wards in Districts 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, Binh Thanh, Go Vap, and Phu Nhuan that must be arranged.

Panorama of the 17th session of the 10th term Ho Chi Minh City People's Council. Photo: Minh Quan

After the reorganization, 38 new wards will be formed from 80 wards. In which, the majority will merge two wards into one new ward, there are 7 cases of merging three wards or part of an old ward to form a new ward. There are 9 wards that must adjust their boundaries. Previously, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee had consulted voters on 80 wards subject to merger. As a result, 961,533 voters were consulted, of which 91.28% of voters agreed with the reorganization policy; 1.92% of voters disagreed and 491 had other opinions. It is expected that Ho Chi Minh City will complete the merger of 80 wards in the third quarter of 2024.

Ho Chi Minh City arranges 80 wards into 38 new wards. Photo: Anh Tu

Regarding the project to develop the urban railway network system in Ho Chi Minh City according to Conclusion 49 of the Politburo, Ho Chi Minh City aims to complete 6 metro lines with a total length of 183 km by 2035. The 6 lines include: Line 1 (Long Binh Depot - Ben Thanh - An Ha) is 40.8 km long; Line 2 (An Suong - Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem) is 20.2 km long; Line 3 (Hiep Binh Phuoc - Dan Chu Roundabout - Tan Kien - An Ha) is 29.5 km long; Line 4 (Dong Thanh Depot - Ben Thanh - Ba Chiem Station, Ring Road 3) is 36.8 km long; Line 5 (Vo Chi Cong Station (Ring Road 2) - Bay Hien - Da Phuoc Depot) is 32.5 km long; Line 6 (Ba Queo - Tan Son Nhat Airport - Binh Trieu - Phu Huu) is 22.8 km long. By 2045, Ho Chi Minh City will build and complete a total of 351 km of urban railway. By 2060, it is expected that the entire urban railway network of 10 routes, with a total length of 510 km, will be completed.

Ho Chi Minh City plans a metro system longer than 500 km. Photo: MAUR

The preliminary total investment for the period from now to 2035 (excluding Metro Line 1 investment capital) is about VND837,000 billion (equivalent to USD34.9 billion). According to the project, in the structure of capital mobilized to build metro lines, there is no ODA loan capital. Accordingly, the central budget supports USD9.75 billion; the HCMC budget is about USD8.62 billion; the source of increased central budget revenue from revenues divided between the central budget and the HCMC budget is more than USD7 billion. In addition, there are 2 sources of revenue from land auctions around stations (TOD model) of USD5 billion and from local bonds of USD6.4 billion. Regarding policy mechanisms, HCMC proposes 6 policy groups with 28 mechanisms. Of which, 17 mechanisms and policies are under the authority of the National Assembly; 11 mechanisms and policies are under the authority of the Government. It is expected that the contents of specific policies and mechanisms for urban railway development will be submitted to the National Assembly at the session in late 2024 or early 2025.

The 17th session of the 10th term People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City took place over 2.5 working days. In addition to reviewing the above two important projects, the session focused on assessing the socio-economic situation and national defense and security in the first 6 months of the year, directions and tasks for the last 6 months of 2024. At the same time, it focused on discussing and considering passing resolutions related to the fields of economy, urban, culture - society, education... At this session, the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City will have a question and answer session with the Director of the Department of Information and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City and the Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Tan District. Source: https://laodong.vn/xa-hoi/hdnd-tphcm-xem-xet-phuong-an-sap-nhap-80-phuong-va-sieu-de-an-hon-500km-metro-1366436.ldo