Plans to construct a private residential project in Vietnam’s picturesque Ha Long Bay – famous for its islands and caves – has ignited concerns about its impact on the environment and debate about its legality.
In a 2021 land auction, Do Gia Capital Company Ltd. won the rights to develop a major hotel and residential complex within and around Ha Long Bay’s “buffer zone,” an area put in place by UNESCO in 1994 to protect the World Heritage Site.
Vietnam’s law on cultural heritage states that construction projects taking place within “protected zones of a national monument” must receive approval from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism – which the Do Gia Capital Company obtained. It also got permission from the Quang Ninh provincial government.
The company has since begun the process of dumping soil into the bay to create man-made islands upon which it plans to construct 451 villas and semi-detached houses, several multi-storey hotels, and other commercial facilities.
The entire project covers nearly 32 hectares (80 acres), 3.88 hectares (10 acres) of which are part of the Ha Long Bay buffer zone.
Prof. Dang Hung Vo, former deputy minister of natural resources and environment, criticized the local and national authorities who approved the project.
“It’s necessary to examine the qualifications of whoever at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has endorsed the project,” he said.
The project should be halted while potential damages can be analyzed, said Dr. Le Anh Tuan, a principal lecturer from Can Tho University’s Environment and Natural Resources Department.
“The investor of this project consulted neither scientists nor the organization that recognized Ha Long Bay as a World Heritage Site,” he said.
Defenders
Others have come out to defend the development project and its legality.
“We all have talked about the project but in a shallow way. None were able to cite a law, a map, or reference any documents to conclude that the project violated Vietnam’s law,” former military officer Lt. Col. Vu Minh Tri told RFA.
“All the documents that have been made public show that the project has been approved in compliance with the law and regulated procedures,” he said. “Therefore, we should wait for the upcoming developments and not be led by the mainstream state media.”
He suspects that political infighting – and not legal or environmental concerns – are driving the public debate about the construction project.
During a press conference on Nov. 7, Pham Thuy Duong, the deputy head of Quang Ninh Party Committee’s Communications and Education Department, affirmed that the project had a sufficient legal basis.
However, she also stated that the Quang Ninh Department of Natural Resources and Environment would impose a fine of 125 million dong (US$5,100) on Do Gia Capital Company for “not publicizing the project’s environmental impact assessment report.”
Despite petitions to the Vietnamese National Assembly calling for an end to the construction project, Do Gia Capital Company will continue its urban development in the Ha Long Bay buffer zone and surrounding areas for the foreseeable future.
Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Claire McCrea and Malcolm Foster.