Apartment owner in Khuong Ha claims 'no money' to get his violations ignored

On March 10, Nghiem Quang Minh, 45 years old, owner of a mini apartment building on Khuong Ha street, was tried by the Hanoi People's Court for violating fire prevention and fighting regulations.,According to Article 313 of the Penal Code, in the fire that killed 56 people.

In 2015, defendant Minh owned a 240 m2 plot of land on Khuong Ha Street, and was granted a permit to build a single-family home. The first floor construction area was 167.4 m2, but he arbitrarily changed the design, building the first floor to 240 m2; the permit allowed for 6 floors and 33 rooms, but the building was converted into 9 floors and 45 rooms - exceeding 3 floors and 12 rooms, according to the indictment.

In court, Minh stated that the approved construction density was only 70% but he built up to 100%, due to limited awareness at that time; when he built beyond that, he did not see any officers instructing or requesting him to prepare design documents, review, accept, or manage fire prevention and fighting.

During the construction process, the Thanh Xuan District Construction Inspection Team came once when laying the foundation. Since they were not at the construction site regularly, we do not know if any other inspection teams will come.

In July 2015, when the construction reached the 7th floor, the Khuong Dinh Ward Construction Inspection Team made a record requesting to stop construction. Mr. Minh was then fined 15 million VND by Thanh Xuan District, forced to demolish the illegal construction; forced to execute. But he delayed the implementation for 2 months without being reminded by anyone.

"So did you give money to anyone to avoid demolition for 2 months?" Judge Dang Manh Cam Yen asked. Defendant Minh replied "no".

"That means the management agency just ignored it and did not request any comments?", the judge continued to ask. Defendant Minh replied: "No requests".

Talking about the reason for not demolishing, the owner of the mini apartment building said that "human resources and weather at that time did not allow it".

Meanwhile, the indictment stated that three officials from Khuong Dinh ward made a record and signed a confirmation that Minh "self-demolished the illegal construction on the 7th floor". The three officials did not request the demolition of the construction with a density different from the permit. After making the record, they also did not report on the policy for continuing to handle the illegal construction.

Following this trend, a few months later, defendant Minh continued to build 3 more floors. The local authorities and district inspectors did not see anyone come to remind him of the prohibition, defendant Minh testified at the trial this morning.

"Ignoring everything? Did you have to give money to someone to get them to ignore it and continue construction?", the judge continued to question. Defendant Minh still insisted that he did not and said he rarely went to the construction site, but "never saw any officials come to inspect" when he went.

"Why do you say you don't know anything that is disadvantageous to you?"

In April 2016, defendant Minh sold 45 apartments to individuals and households. By the end of that year, all 45 apartments were occupied.

The purchase and sale is in the form of "voluntary transfer of ownership" or handing over the right to use the apartment. The defendant is only responsible for the operation and maintenance for the first year.

All 70-80 motorbikes, electric motorbikes, and electric bicycles of residents are parked on the first floor.

From 2018 to 2020, Thanh Xuan District Police discovered many violations of fire prevention and fighting here. If not prevented in time, it could lead to a direct risk of fire and explosion and could cause particularly serious consequences.

On June 24, 2020, Thanh Xuan District issued a decision to suspend the operation of the first floor of the building. Minh and the residents living there, accordingly, had to comply with fire safety requirements but did not comply. Thanh Xuan District Police continued to send official dispatches to them and Khuong Dinh Ward Police but there was still no change.

Regarding the times the ward and district reminded and warned him about violating fire prevention and fighting risks, defendant Minh said: "I didn't know because I wasn't there, I didn't receive any documents, and no resident told me."

These testimonies made the judge remind: "Why do you say you don't know anything that is not beneficial to you?"

"The indictment stated that there were many warnings and continuous inspections, but the defendant did not comply many times. The news stations and television stations also reported on this very house, the district also decided to suspend it, a month later the district police continued to issue a document urging fire prevention and fighting work, which was assigned to the defendant, but the defendant continued to not carry it out. Is the responsibility over once the construction is completed?", the judge said harshly.

Defendant Minh replied: "This is for the residents, the defendant did not receive the document."

At this mini apartment building, a fire broke out on the night of September 12, 2023 when the wiring in the battery area near the wall was short-circuited. The fire spread to the electrical cable area, the electric meter boxes mounted on the first floor wall, and then spread around. The fire killed 56 people and injured 44 people to varying degrees.

The legal representatives of the families of the 56 victims requested compensation totaling 19.7 billion VND. The entire medical expenses of the 44 injured people have been paid by the state. They continue to request compensation totaling 2.7 billion VND.

For property damage, the residents requested a total compensation of 56.7 billion VND, including the entire value of the house, all assets in the apartment, money, gold...

Today, 72 of the 84 victims and their representatives were summoned by the court. The trial panel is continuing to question 7 officials who committed wrongdoing in the case.

Among the 8 defendants appearing in court today, in addition to the apartment owner, there are 7 former officials of Thanh Xuan district and Khuong Dinh ward prosecuted for the crime of Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences..They include: Mr. Tran Trong Khang (former Head of Thanh Xuan District Construction Inspectorate, period 2013 - 2016); Pham Tan Anh (former Vice Chairman of the Ward People's Committee since 2018); Chu Xuan Son (former Vice Chairman of the Ward People's Committee, period 2015 - 2020); Nguyen Thi Kim Trang (former officer of the ward's land and construction department, period 2010 - 2018); Nguyen Tuan Anh (former Deputy Head of Khuong Dinh Ward Police); Nguyen Dinh Quan (former Head of the Ward Construction Inspectorate, period 2014 - 2016), Pham Thanh Tung (former contract employee in charge of urban environment).