Building a house worth hundreds of billions for students, 10 years no one lives there

Degraded due to 10 years of near abandonment

Located in the new urban area of ​​Hoang Phat, Ward 1, Bac Lieu City, the Student Housing Project is invested by the Department of Construction of Bac Lieu Province, with a budget of more than 260 billion VND from the State budget. In July 2015, phase 1 of the project was completed with 2 spacious, modern buildings, which were handed over to the Center for Housing and Land Fund Development of Bac Lieu Province for management and exploitation. The two buildings have a total of 150 rooms, providing accommodation for 1,200 students. Each room is equipped with bunk beds, desks, cabinets, fans, lights, toilets, etc. According to the design, 1 room can accommodate 8 students, the initial rental price is only 100,000 VND/person/month. After being handed over for management, the Center for Housing and Land Fund Development of Bac Lieu Province and relevant agencies have repeatedly mobilized students from universities and colleges to live here. However, the first year there were only 6 students renting, then there were no students.

Currently, the project is overgrown with grass (Hoang Nam)

The reason is that the housing area is far from the school, making it inconvenient for students to travel. In addition, schools have their own dormitories, which is very convenient for students. Moreover, students want to stay outside to be more free and comfortable. According to Mr. Tran Tam Trung, Director of the Center for Housing and Land Fund Development of Bac Lieu province, the Bac Lieu student housing area is currently vacant, the unit only arranges for maintenance, security, and grass cutting...

Previously, in mid-2020, when the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, Bac Lieu province requisitioned this house to quarantine people returning to the locality from abroad and other places. After the epidemic subsided, the house has been abandoned until now.

Many items have been damaged and degraded (Hoang Nam).

According to the reporter of Kinh te & Do thi newspaper, due to not being used for a long time, many items of the project are now seriously degraded. Around the house, including inside the large campus, trees and grass grow wildly. Ceilings, doors, desks, cabinets, fans, lights, electrical and water systems are damaged. The surrounding walls are peeling; the floors are cracked and sunken in many places; many equipment is rusty and damaged...

Transfer function to avoid waste

Put into operation in 2015, however, the only time the building was bustling was during the graduation and university exams to serve the candidates and their families who came to take the exams that year. Soon after, the building began to become deserted and deserted, and there was an opinion that its function should be changed.

The project is vacant, while the demand for social housing in Bac Lieu is still very large (Hoang Nam).

The director of the Bac Lieu Housing and Land Fund Development Center at that time, Mr. Dao Ngoc Thao, said that the center had proposed to the Provincial People's Committee to consider mobilizing Bac Lieu University and Bac Lieu College of Economics to let students stay but failed. The reason was that at that time, both schools only had 400 students but they were all staying in their dormitories. So even if they "mobilized everyone" to stay, the new building could only fill 1/3 of the space designed for 1,200 students. So the center proposed to the Bac Lieu Provincial People's Committee to convert the function into a residential area in 2015.

Mr. Duong Chi Binh, Deputy Director of the Department of Construction of Bac Lieu province, said that to prevent waste, the province has reported to the Ministry of Construction, asking for the Government's permission to convert the function of the student housing area into social housing in the form of apartments. According to Mr. Binh, if approved, the province will repair and renovate 150 social housing apartments from the State budget.

Accordingly, on October 24, 2024, Mr. Pham Van Thieu, Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province, signed an official dispatch to the Ministry of Construction requesting permission to convert the function of Bac Lieu student housing area into social housing for rent. The reason is that the housing area has not attracted students to rent. Meanwhile, the number of low-income people in urban areas, cadres, civil servants, public employees and other workers have a relatively large demand for housing.

To avoid waste, loss and ensure effective exploitation of public assets, the conversion of student housing to social housing for rental purposes is in line with the socio-economic situation of Bac Lieu province. At the same time, it will address the housing needs of low-income people in urban areas, cadres, civil servants and public employees who do not have housing, and promote the development of social housing. The conversion is expected to be completed from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2025. The head of the Bac Lieu Provincial People's Committee also committed to the Ministry of Construction to manage the use of housing after the conversion in accordance with the provisions of law on the development and management of social housing.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/bac-lieu-xay-nha-tram-ti-cho-sinh-vien-10-nam-khong-ai-o.html