Besides, it is necessary to clarify and strictly handle the responsibilities of each individual and organization involved, especially the leader.
Huge waste!
Delegate Pham Van Hoa, member of the National Assembly's Law Committee, commented that this is not a new issue but has been raised many years ago. When administrative units merge, there will be surplus, vacant, unused places. In principle, when communes and districts merge, the headquarters of the merged agencies must be used effectively; if not used, it must be proposed to be priced and sold to people or businesses that need to use it, and it is absolutely not left empty, causing waste of state assets. However, the situation of old headquarters being left empty is still very common. There are headquarters that have been left empty for decades after the merger or relocation, and even rented out for services and then the money is paid into the union fund instead of the state budget. This is waste, and a fundamental solution is needed to prevent it.
Sharing the same view, delegate Le Thanh Van, standing member of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee, pointed out that the Law on Public Asset Management clearly stipulates the forms of handling public assets, including old agency headquarters. The form can be leasing, changing the purpose of use, auctioning... "The problem is whether local authorities, ministries and branches in charge handle them in accordance with the law or not," Mr. Van said, emphasizing that it must be handled urgently.
There are many reasons for the series of old headquarters "shelved" for many years, but according to some experts, one of them is due to not calculating all the situations that occur when merging and rearranging the organization and apparatus of the units. In some places, when merging many units, there will be excess old headquarters. On the one hand, the agency after the merger does not have enough working space so it has to build a new one, on the other hand, the old headquarters before that are left empty and degraded, which means a waste of up to twice. It is worth mentioning that with millions of square meters left empty, the waste is extremely large.
Need to consider the responsibility of the head
Regarding the solution, delegate Pham Van Hoa said that the competent authority needs to consider each case, where it can still be used, it should be arranged for other units to use, if it is rented, the proceeds must be transferred to the budget and cannot be paid into the union fund. In case it can no longer be used, it is necessary to carry out planning, organize an auction of the property; depending on the approved planning, it should be handed over to the buyer for appropriate purposes such as business development, housing construction or public works.
More specifically, some opinions suggested that the Ministry of Finance - the agency that helps the Government manage public assets - coordinate with ministries, branches, and local People's Committees to organize a review of the process of handling surplus headquarters, why the "shelved" situation still exists. Any term that cannot be done must be handled, regardless of whether it is in office or retired. In particular, clarify the responsibility of the head.
Talking to Thanh Nien about the situation of abandoned public headquarters, a local leader explained that they had to "wait for planning". Delegate Le Thanh Van said that the reasons given must be thoroughly evaluated. If there is any impact from the change in purpose of use, it will mainly be at the level of detailed planning, and will not affect the overall planning much, because most of the old agency headquarters are located in stable functional areas and subdivisions. If there is any change, meaning in terms of detailed planning, most of it is within the authority of the locality. According to Mr. Van, the Ministry of Finance must organize a field inspection, verify the legal status of each asset, to see if the reasons given by the locality are honest and legitimate. In case of citing reasons to justify delays and procrastination, it must be reported to the Prime Minister and the Government for disciplinary action.
In fact, the solutions suggested above are not new and have been mentioned many times. Delegate Pham Van Hoa said that the responsibility of the head of the government for allowing waste in public offices to occur is obvious and very clear. However, Mr. Hoa also noted that it is necessary to consider the whole picture and assess whether there are any objective causes other than subjective ones. The answer lies with the authorities at all levels, especially the lower levels, through reporting specific problems and shortcomings that are being encountered, so that the competent authorities can remove them. "We must do it thoroughly and responsibly, not just do it perfunctorily when it is mentioned," Delegate Hoa noted.
Will implement a general inventory of assets
According to the Government's report on the implementation of Resolution No. 74/2022 of the National Assembly on promoting the implementation of policies and laws on practicing thrift and combating waste, as of August 31, 2023, the total number of houses and land facilities subject to rearrangement is 251,284. Of which, the number of houses and land facilities that have had plans for rearrangement and handling is 201,794; the number of houses and land facilities that have had plans approved is 179,458; and the number of houses and land facilities that have not had plans approved is 71,826.
Pursuant to Resolution No. 74/2022, the Ministry of Finance has drafted a Project on general inventory of public assets at agencies, organizations, units and infrastructure assets invested and managed by the State and submitted it to the Prime Minister for approval of the Project. Currently, the draft is being consulted with ministries, branches and localities. In the coming time, the Government will prepare well to implement the general inventory of assets after the project is approved; at the same time, strengthen state management of management and use of public assets, issue directives and management documents to ensure the management and use of public assets economically, effectively and in accordance with regulations; speed up the progress of rearrangement and handling of houses and land, etc.
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