Harsh punishment imposed on owners of illegally-built houses along canals

Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport Bui Hoa An yesterday said that the department had just asked inspectors in Thu Duc City and districts citywide to issue harsh punishment on owners of illegally-built houses along canals.
Harsh punishment imposed on owners of illegally-built houses along canals ảnh 1 A canal around HCM city 
Under the Department’s proposal, local administrations must urgently inspect and give tough fines on those who have breached the law to build their houses in the banks of rivers or canals.
According to the municipal Department of Transport, approximately 3,533 temporary houses were built from rudimentary materials such as melaleuca poles, coconut poles, and concrete columns encroaching on the water flow of the waterway. These dilapidated houses along canals are at risk of falling into rivers and canals imposing a threat on people’s lives in the rainy season.
District 8 is leading with 3,025 temporary houses, followed by Thu Duc City with 97 houses, District 4 with 97, outlying districts Nha Be and Can Gio with 62 houses and 55 houses. Hundreds of naturally formed canals in Ho Chi Minh City have been recently narrowed by housing projects
These buildings are in poor repair; therefore, they are at high risk of collapsing into the river. The Center for Waterway Management of Ho Chi Minh City said that for the safety of people living in temporary houses on the banks of rivers, canals in the southern metropolis, the Waterway Management Center proposed to the Department of Transport of Ho Chi Minh City and local administrations in districts to issue warning against natural disasters in the rainy and stormy season.
Simultaneously, local administrators must destroy these temporary houses and build new houses in resettlement areas for city dwellers’ safety and urban sight.
Specifically, 30 dilapidated houses are located in Thu Duc city’s Thanh My Loi ward while Binh Trung Tay ward authority reported 36 temporary houses, An Phu ward with 8 houses, and Phuoc Long B ward with 23 houses.
Wards 1 and 3 in District 4 reported 285 houses in poor repairs and district 8 with more than 3,000 houses without permission. Elsewhere in the city, Hoc Mon district’s announced four deteriorated houses, Cu Chi district’s Binh My commune with ramshackle houses and Nha Be District with 62 tumbledown houses. Outlying District Can Gio concluded 55 battered houses in communes Long Hoa, Ly Nhon, and Thanh An.

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