Phan Dinh Phung Stadium project still stuck

The abandoned Phan Dinh Phung stadium construction site in the center of Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Le Toan

Not suitable for planning, cannot be assessed

Recently, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance reported to the City People's Committee on problems related to the investment policy of the Phan Dinh Phung Sports Center Construction Project (referred to as the Phan Dinh Phung Stadium Project) under the form of public investment.

Previously, in April 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee decided to stop implementing this project under the BT form and switch to the public investment form, with the expectation that the project could be quickly implemented. However, in reality, when starting to implement, there were many problems.

At the time of starting to appraise the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of Phan Dinh Phung Stadium Project using public investment capital at the end of 2024, the Department of Planning and Architecture of Ho Chi Minh City (now the Department of Construction of Ho Chi Minh City) assessed that the architectural planning criteria of the Project were not in accordance with the legal zoning plan (regarding the scale of the building height and construction density). Therefore, this department proposed to study and adjust the scale of the Project to ensure compliance with the architectural planning criteria of the approved zoning plan. Regarding the area for training rooms for departments, office blocks, management, professional services... (in addition to the function of parking and technical department of the building) arranged in the basement, it is proposed to calculate this area into the land use coefficient in accordance with regulations.

In January 2025, the Department of Planning and Investment of Ho Chi Minh City (now the Department of Finance of Ho Chi Minh City) chaired a meeting of the Working Group No. 1 of the Appraisal Council to review the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the Phan Dinh Phung Stadium Project. At the meeting, the members of the Working Group also agreed that the Project's construction density and maximum building height targets were not consistent with the approved Zoning Plan in the area, and the 1/2000 zoning plan needed to be adjusted. Therefore, the Project was not qualified to organize the appraisal of the Pre-Feasibility Study Report according to regulations.

When appraising the Project, the Department of Finance also found that the report on the proposed investment policy of the Project in the form of public investment prepared by the Department of Culture and Sports had a new investment scale and design plan, not inheriting the research results in the Project Feasibility Study Report (BT contract) approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee in 2016. This resulted in Ho Chi Minh City having no basis to pay for the costs related to the design work that the investor under the previous BT contract had spent, leading to the risk of complaints and lawsuits from the investor.

In addition, the land for the Project implementation has a prime location (4 fronts), with a total area of over 14,417 m2. Therefore, the proposed scale of the Project in the form of public investment including only sports and physical training functions has not fully promoted the value of the land, and has not ensured the goal of serving the necessary needs of the people.

Therefore, the Department of Finance believes that it is necessary to study and supplement other related utilities to ensure better service to the people and generate revenue to operate the project when put into use. Due to the shortcomings in the Project's Pre-Feasibility Study Report, the Department of Finance does not have enough basis to organize an appraisal to report to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to submit to the City People's Council to decide on the investment policy for the Project in the form of public investment.

Proposal to re-examine the project scale

In a report to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the Department of Finance stated that the Phan Dinh Phung Stadium Project is a key project of the City, and the implementation process under the BT form has lasted for many years, so to avoid waste and complete investment procedures soon, the City needs to direct departments and branches to speed up the procedures.

In which, the Department of Culture and Sports and the Project Management Board for investment in construction of civil and industrial works are assigned to quickly adjust the local zoning plan at a scale of 1/2000 at the land where the Project is implemented.

Regarding the scale of the Project, it is necessary to study and re-evaluate the investment scale and design plan of the Project approved in 2016. In case of possible inheritance, priority should be given to applying when preparing the report to propose the investment policy of the Project in the form of public investment, to avoid waste.

The Department of Finance also proposed to study and adjust the scale of the Project, adding functions to the project in the direction of forming a multi-purpose complex combining physical education and sports functions with international standard facilities (using public investment capital from the Ho Chi Minh City budget) and necessary utilities such as trade, services, food, entertainment, etc. to serve the needs of people for training and sports competition, creating a basis and favorable conditions to mobilize social resources when put into operation and exploitation.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/du-an-nha-thi-dau-phan-dinh-phung-chua-het-vuong-d309889.html