A forest in Phu Yen province has been cleared to make way for a golf course and resort, despite the fact the project hasn't been approved.
According to Tuoi Tre, over 140 hectares of forest in the south-central city of Tuy Hoa have been destroyed. The forest, located near the coast, was planted in 1979 to protect the city from wind and sand encroachment. It was strengthened in 2000 with funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
It is now gone to make way for a high-end tourist complex spearheaded by New City Vietnam Ltd. First-hand reporting by the newspaper shared that bulldozers were working on the area, while tree trunks littered the ground. A drone video showed a desolate landscape.
Video via Tuoi Tre.
The news source shares that work on the golf course and resort began last year, before New City and Sao Viet, another developer, had submitted the required papers to undertake construction.
Huynh Lu Tan, director of Phu Yen's Department of Construction, told Tuoi Tre that the agency still has not granted any construction permits to New City. However, he argued that the golf course may not require a separate permit since it is part of a project that will receive permits later.
"Some construction items had been approved by the provincial administration to commence in advance in order to speed up progress," Tan shared with the newspaper.
Meanwhile Mai Kim Loc, vice director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, told Dan Tri that local officials expedited construction because Tuy Hoa is hosting the Miss Friendship of ASEAN beauty pageant this summer.
Photo via Tuoi Tre.
"It will take a year or two to complete all procedures while the beauty pageant is going to be held in July. So we created favorable conditions for the investor," she explained to the news source.
Tuoi Tre adds that under Vietnamese law, any project that requires the conversion of more than 20 hectares of land must obtain approval from the prime minister. Phu Yen officials have not completed the necessary papers regarding the 140-hectare project, which turned protective forest into land for business, in order to send them to the central government.
On October 31, 2016, the provincial administration awarded New City, Sao Viet and another agency an award for their "excellent accomplishments" in clearing the land, the news source shares.
[Photo via VietnamNet]
Related Articles:
