Ho Chi Minh City considers stopping the BT project of Phan Dinh Phung stadium and switching to public investment

The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee assigned departments and branches to review the legal basis and propose plans to continue implementing investment under the public-private partnership model or stop BT projects and switch to public investment.

The Office of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just issued Official Dispatch No. 305/TB-VP announcing the conclusion of Chairman of the City People's Committee Phan Van Mai at the meeting of the Working Group of the Phan Dinh Phung Sports Center Construction Project (also known as Phan Dinh Phung Gymnasium).

According to the conclusion announcement, on March 25, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai chaired a meeting of the Working Group to resolve problems related to the Project.

The land for the construction of Phan Dinh Phung stadium is overgrown with grass in the center of Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Le Toan

After listening to the report of the Department of Planning and Investment (Head of the Working Group), the Department of Culture and Sports, and the opinions of the members of the Working Group, the Chairman of the City People's Committee assigned the Department of Planning and Investment to urgently chair a meeting of the Working Group to discuss, agree on advice, and propose options to the Chairman of the City People's Committee.

In particular, the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee requested the Working Group to propose a plan to continue implementing investment under the public-private partnership method or stop the BT project and switch to the public investment form. At the same time, clarify the legal consequences, arising situations and solutions for the proposed investment method selected.

The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also requested to clarify the urgency and necessity of continuing to invest in the construction of a large-scale sports center to serve the training and competition of the City's key sports at the existing project location or propose to implement a project with a different scale, nature, and objectives... on the basis of being consistent with the planning and serving more effectively the socio-economic development tasks of the City, ending the current situation of leaving land vacant.

Assign the Department of Planning and Investment and the Department of Culture and Sports to work with the Joint Venture of Compensation and Clearance Corporation - Phat Dat Real Estate Development Corporation to unify the obligations and responsibilities of the parties in handling the situation of stopping the implementation of the BT project (after the competent authority officially decides to stop the project).

The head of the Ho Chi Minh City government requires that all content of exchanges and agreements between the parties must be clearly stated in documents and signed in specific minutes.

In particular, when meeting the working group, the Department of Planning and Investment is responsible for sending meeting invitations and documents to members 3 days in advance, requiring members of the working group to attend in person, and not to send someone to attend on their behalf.

The Department of Planning and Investment, the Department of Culture and Sports and members of the Working Group are responsible for completing assigned tasks before April 7, and must not delay any further.

Phan Dinh Phung Sports Center project is located on a "golden" land with an area of 1.44 hectares in the central area of District 3, Ho Chi Minh City.

On July 28, 2016, Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued Decision No. 3861/QD-UBND approving the project. In early 2017, Phan Dinh Phung Sports Center was demolished to build a new project.

But before the project could start, the BT investment form was "terminated" because the Law on Investment under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP Law) took effect from the beginning of 2021. Since then, the project has been stuck.

Due to the project being behind schedule for many years, the total investment has continuously increased from the initial level of 988 billion VND to 1,352 billion VND and has now increased to 1,953 billion VND.

Source