Concerns about waste from Lotte's request to return project in Thu Thiem

(Dan Tri) - Lotte's request to stop the project in Thu Thiem, according to Mr. Phan Van Mai, could cause waste when the land is not used for many years, and this could also affect the investment and business environment.

This opinion was given by Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai at the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on September 22, when giving comments on the draft Law on Thrift and Anti-Wastefulness. The draft law consists of 6 chapters and 37 articles, built to create a synchronous, clear and effective legal framework for practicing thrift and anti-wastefulness.

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai is concerned because the bill is "not open enough" in giving proactive authority to those responsible in agencies and units.

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai (Photo: Hong Phong).

He cited that Ho Chi Minh City is spending about 10,000 billion VND on salaries a year. If the mechanism is given to the Chairman of the City People's Committee through the People's Council to decide on the total payroll and total salary fund, this budget will be used more effectively. "We have not opened enough to give authority to the person in charge," said Mr. Mai.

Another example, he said, is that we do not yet have a mechanism for the head of a public service unit to have the right to decide how to use the State-assigned assets most effectively.

The example Mr. Mai mentioned is that Lotte recently proposed to stop and return the project in Thu Thiem.

“Previously, we had already determined the price and agreed on the land use fee within that range, but now due to the delay, we have to pay a few thousand billion more in late payment. The late payment was due to your not deciding early, but in the end, I had to bear it, so they returned it,” Mr. Mai stated the reality.

According to him, when the land is returned, it will not be used for many years, which is a waste. And a bigger waste is that it affects the business environment and affects the confidence of investors.

“With these stories, how can we empower the competent authorities and leaders to take responsibility? This law should try to open that up further,” Mr. Mai stated his opinion and emphasized the need for stronger policies.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Vu Hong Thanh (Photo: Hong Phong).

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Vu Hong Thanh said that there is a very thin line between saving and wasting, "one place says saving but turns to another and it becomes wasteful". According to him, the resources that need to be saved and waste-fighting are not only public finance and public assets, but can also be expanded to include human resources, financial resources and material resources, three very important resources of the economy.

“Previously, we planned to invest in expressways with some places having two lanes, some places without emergency lanes. In the end, there were many traffic accidents and we had to renovate, upgrade, and repair. That process would be more expensive than investing from the beginning,” Mr. Thanh cited.

He emphasized the need to specify provisions in the law to distinguish the boundary between saving and waste.

Along with that, it is necessary to distinguish between wasteful behavior due to lack of responsibility and violation of the law and objective risks in the implementation process, such as in piloting the implementation of new mechanisms and policies.

“In reality, we are also very afraid of moving from one extreme to the other. Our projects are delayed, causing waste in terms of social costs and opportunity costs. The principle is correct, but specific regulations are needed to ensure feasibility in implementation,” Mr. Thanh suggested.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong (Photo: Hong Phong).

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong mentioned the situation of "no one cries for public property" in this field, because agencies and units that are not in their field will not be responsible for detecting, reporting and having sanctions to handle waste.

Emphasizing the need to build a mechanism so that the movement of saving and fighting waste can spread and everyone has responsibility in this, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly stated that the reflection may or may not be correct, but the law should be designed so that people can boldly reflect information about waste.

"If there are strict regulations on providing incorrect information, then we will be punished. Who would dare to provide it?", Mr. Phuong expressed his opinion and said that the Government should be assigned to regulate this content in detail to avoid rigidity.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/thoi-su/lo-lang-ve-lang-phi-tu-chuyen-lotte-xin-tra-lai-du-an-o-thu-thiem-20250922123814440.htm