Former Secretary of Hanoi: 'Many illegal constructions have powerful backers'

Mr. Pham Quang Nghi said that many illegal constructions have backers, so the responsibility of local officials in the mini apartment fire must be considered.

On September 18, answering the press on the sidelines of the conference to gather opinions from former leaders of Hanoi City on the draft Law on the Capital (amended), former Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi suggested considering the responsibility of local officials for allowing the construction of extra floors like the mini apartment building on Khuong Ha Street, Thanh Xuan District.

Former Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi speaks at the conference on the morning of September 18. Photo: Hoang Phong — Former Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi speaks at the conference on the morning of September 18. Photo: *Hoang Phong*

According to Mr. Nghi, in reality, the violating constructions were fined and then allowed to exist. The investors "hoped to be fined to legalize the violations, because the profits from the violations were much larger than the fines."

"When I was Secretary, I did not accept the practice of punishing for existing buildings, but instead punished those buildings for mistakes. The more floors, the more floors were cut. It was very drastic," Mr. Nghi said, listing the buildings that were "cut off" during his time as Secretary of Hanoi, such as No. 9 Dao Duy Anh, Dong Da District; No. 4 Dang Dung Street, Ba Dinh District; 221-223 Bach Mai Street, Hai Ba Trung District...

In addition to the mini apartment building that caught fire on Khuong Ha Street, the former Secretary of Hanoi said that the city has many other illegal constructions and "behind them are the forces behind them". "Therefore, when dealing with the case, the government must not only deal with the construction owner but also the forces behind them. The city needs to strictly handle the responsibility of officials in allowing illegal constructions to exist. If subordinates violate and are not punished, then superiors must be considered," he said.

According to Mr. Nghi, when building individual houses with many apartments for many people, there must be conditions to ensure safety such as fire prevention and fighting, outdoor fire escapes. In legal regulations, "there is no term mini apartment, it is just a term people created themselves".

Mr. Nguyen The Thao, former Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee. Photo: Hoang Phong — Mr. Nguyen The Thao, former Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee. Photo: *Hoang Phong*

Former Chairman of Hanoi Nguyen The Thao also said that the current policy mechanism does not clearly regulate this type of housing, and does not define what a mini apartment is. Therefore, the law needs to supplement regulations on mini apartments to overcome the current problem of "transforming individual houses into lodgings, creating potential risks".

On the night of September 12 to the early morning of September 13, a 10-story mini apartment building with 45 apartments on Khuong Ha Street, Khuong Dinh Ward caught fire, killing 56 people and injuring 37 others.

The mini apartment building that caught fire was licensed to build a 6-storey single-family house, with a first-floor construction area of 167 m2, a density of 70%, and a total building height of 20.2 m. However, the investor turned the low-rise housing project into a 10-storey mini apartment building with a construction area of 230 m2, divided into 45 apartments for sale.

The owner of the mini apartment Nghiem Quang Minh was prosecuted and detained for 4 months for violating fire prevention and fighting regulations under Article 313 of the Penal Code.

Dozens of motorbikes were burned to the frame on the first floor of a mini apartment building on Khuong Ha Street, Thanh Xuan. Photo: Giang Huy — Dozens of motorbikes were burned to the frame on the first floor of a mini apartment building on Khuong Ha Street, Thanh Xuan District. Photo: *Giang Huy*

After the fire, Mr. Dang Hong Thai, former Vice Chairman of Thanh Xuan District, said that he had issued a decision to fine and enforce the construction of the violation, and assigned Khuong Dinh Ward to carry out the implementation. "I don't know what will happen next," Mr. Thai said.

The Hanoi Party Committee has decided to inspect signs of violations by three Party organizations in Thanh Xuan district (the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee, the Thanh Xuan District Police Party Committee and the Khuong Dinh Ward Party Committee for the 2015-2020 and 2020-2025 terms) to clarify the responsibilities of organizations and individuals related to the burned building.

Vo Hai

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