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The highest building in the central region remains. . . on paper
The land plot at No 84 Hung Vuong Road in Da Nang City is called the “golden land” because it is located in the city’s most desirable position. The golden land has been reserved for the Vien Dong (Far East) Twin Towers. However, the highest building in the central region, and the project that Da Nang’s residents once pinned their high hopes on, only exists on paper.
The twin towers project is called Viendong Meridian Tower and is being developed by Viendong Land. Vietnam Meridian Tower has a reputation in Da Nang as the project that has received the most ultimatums from the city’s authorities.
According to Nguyen Van Can, Chief of the Secretariat of the Da Nang People’s Committee, Viendong Land has purchased the plot of land at No.84 Hung Vuong Road. However, the city’s authorities are still responsible for supervising and speeding up the project. Can said the Da Nang People’s Committee has issued two ultimatums to Viendong Land.
After receiving each ultimatum, Viendong Land’s leaders promised to speed up the project’s implementation. However, Viendong Land has only begun construction.
The Viendong Meridian Tower project received its license in 2007, when Viendong Land promised to kick start the project during the first quarter of 2008 at the latest. However, the kick off did not occur until one year ago, when Tran Van Minh, Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee, released a document requesting the developer start construction on the project. With the document, Viendong Land officially organized a ground breaking ceremony on July 25, 2009.
At the ground breaking ceremony, leaders of Viendong Land promised that they would speed up the project’s implementation in order to put the project into operation by the end of 2012.
However, no other moves have been made after the noisy ceremony.
In August 2009, when asked to report on the project’s progress, Nguyen Tam Tien, General Director of Viendong Land, said that since this is an A-group project (A project designated as special) it is taking much more time to complete the technical design than the developer previously thought. Mooyoung A&E, the design consultancy firm, is working promptly in order to complete the design soon. It was expected that technical drawings for the building’s foundation and the ground floor of the two projects (The 48 story twin tower and the underground parking garage) would be completed by the end of September 2009. Meanwhile, the technical design for the whole building would be ready during the first quarter of 2010.
However, until the end of the first quarter of 2010, the golden plot of land at No.84 Hung Vuong remained wilderness, with no noticeable development.
On April 15, 2010, Tran Van Minh released another document stipulating that if Viendong Land did not resume development on the project by May 20, 2010, Viendong Land would see its investment license revoked.
Once again, after receiving its second ultimatum, VinaLand brought excavators and bulldozers to the site. The developer also brought steel, construction materials, and workers to the area on June 2, 2010.
However, the developer, once again broke its promise. Tien phong’s reporters, who came to inspect No.84 Hung Vuong in mid-September, have reported that the once loudly-advertised project is still a wild plot of land with plenty of grass. The huge project, capitalized at $180 million, remains stagnant and a disappointment to Da Nang’s residents.
No one can give an answer on when construction for the project will finish. Nguyen Anh Huy, head of the Management Board for the Viendong Meridian Tower project, said he does not have the right to answer this question. However, he said: “We previously said that we would put the building into operation in 2012, but we are not sure about the plan now.”
Meanwhile, Lam Quang Minh, Director of the Da Nang Investment Promotion Center, said it is not the responsibility of his agency to supervise and speed up the project implementation. He said the responsibility lies with the Da Nang People’s Committee.
vietnamnet, Tien phong
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