Can Tho continues to auction "golden" land after many years of stagnation

Golden land unsold after many auctions

Recently, Can Tho City has approved a list of 18 land plots with a total area of nearly 50 hectares that will be auctioned for land use rights in 2025.

In this list, there are many "golden" lands such as Con Cai Khe roundabout of 3.2 hectares; Song Hau tourist area of nearly 8 hectares; Southwest petroleum depot area of more than 3.2 hectares.

Cần Thơ tiếp tục đấu giá đất vàng sau nhiều năm bị ế - 1 — Cai Khe island roundabout (Photo: Contributor).

These "golden" lands are all located in the center of Ninh Kieu district, with prime locations and convenient transportation. In previous years, the above lands were auctioned by Can Tho City, but failed to attract investors.

This year, Can Tho City continues to auction a series of central land plots for the purposes of leasing commercial and service land for 50 years and residential land.

To increase the effectiveness of land auctions and avoid repeating the results of previous years, Can Tho City has directed the organizing unit to ensure the auction process is public, transparent, and in accordance with regulations. The auction form and starting price are determined in accordance with each land plot.

Cần Thơ tiếp tục đấu giá đất vàng sau nhiều năm bị ế - 2 — Desolate scene in the Cai Khe roundabout area (Photo: Nguyen Cuong).

Regretfully seeing "golden" land become a landfill

Of the 18 plots of land that Can Tho City will auction in 2025, the city’s residents are particularly interested in the Cai Khe roundabout and the Hau River tourist area. These two plots of land are located right in the city center, but are currently abandoned and have become spontaneous landfills.

According to the land use plan issued by Can Tho City in 1999, Cai Khe Islet roundabout is the center of the city's cultural, tourism, sports , and exhibition area. The roundabout has a diameter of 200m, the road around the roundabout is 16m wide, connecting with 4 major streets.

Cần Thơ tiếp tục đấu giá đất vàng sau nhiều năm bị ế - 3 — Garbage piled up everywhere in the roundabout area (Photo: Nguyen Cuong).

The land around the roundabout is planned to build a symbolic tower of the city. An investor once proposed to build a 170m high tower here, but later did not implement it.

Currently, the outer ring of the Cai Khe roundabout is divided into 9 sections, planted with grass and trees with the names of the city's districts. The large area of land in the core of the roundabout is still abandoned, with overgrown trees and garbage everywhere.

A lawn care worker here said that the environmental company is only responsible for the land on the outer rim of the roundabout, the core is still managed by the city government.

Cần Thơ tiếp tục đấu giá đất vàng sau nhiều năm bị ế - 4 — Abandoned restaurant in Hau River tourist area (Photo: Nguyen Cuong).

As a person who used to live in the Cai Khe roundabout before the land was cleared, Mr. Nghia (67 years old) said that this land used to be inhabited by many people and had fruit trees planted. In the early 2000s, the city reclaimed the land, Mr. Nghia and many neighbors moved to live right next to the roundabout.

Mr. Nghia added that in 2008, this land was used to set up food stalls during the National Tourism Year event, then left abandoned until now. This made the former owners of the land very regretful.

As for the Song Hau tourist area, Can Tho City had previously leased the land to businesses to open restaurants and hotels. In 2018, the city reclaimed this land. Since then, most of the land has been abandoned, and a part is being temporarily leased as a coffee shop.