Unfinished 45-hectare project next to Highway 5 of Dong Tam Northern Joint Stock Company

Waste of land

The project of Dong Tam North Joint Stock Company was approved for investment by Hai Duong Provincial People's Committee in 2004 and approved for adjustment and supplementation in 2007. The project area is about 45 hectares in Cam Phuc commune (Cam Giang) with a total investment capital of 920 billion VND. The goal and scale of the project is to produce 5.2 million m3 of cement per year.²granite tiles, 13.5 million colored tiles, 300,000 sanitary ware products, 1.5 million liters of water-based paint and 7,800 tons of wall plaster. The construction and operation of the factory were completed in 2006-2009. However, many years have passed, the investor has only completed some items of the project, while most of the land area is left to waste.

Through inspection and review by the Department of Planning and Investment, Dong Tam Northern Joint Stock Company has built a number of items including a tile production workshop of 16,008 m2.², finished product warehouse about 16,008 m², 10,000 m outdoor raw material yard², product display area 9,600 m², canteen and rest area for workers and laborers 1,200 m²and some auxiliary works such as fire prevention and fighting water tanks, guard house, vehicle weighing station, fence, internal traffic. The enterprise put part of the project into operation since 2018.

According to the report of Dong Tam Northern Joint Stock Company, since its operation, the average revenue of the project each year is about 56.4 billion VND, profit is about 3.8 billion VND. The project creates jobs for about 60 local workers with an income of 8-9 million VND/person/month. The company fully complies with its obligations to the state budget.

However, in reality, the enterprise has only used more than 9 hectares of land, the remaining 35.6 hectares have only been leveled and left to waste and fallow for many years. This has caused long-term dissatisfaction among the people who have allocated land for the project. The leader of Cam Phuc commune said that the ineffective use of land by Dong Tam Northern Joint Stock Company is an issue that local people often petition and reflect. The project has a favorable location but the investment is "dripping" and not in line with the original goal, making the people disappointed. While many investors want to have land to propose to implement the project, this enterprise "holds" the land and leaves it there.

Continue to request adjustment

According to the reporter's investigation, the project of Dong Tam North Joint Stock Company has been approved by the People's Committee of Hai Duong province to adjust the implementation progress 6 times. On March 30, 2020, the General Department of Land Administration (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) issued Notice No. 06/TB-TCQLDD on the conclusion of the inspection of land management and use for investment projects that are slow or have not yet put land into use in Hai Duong province. The General Department requested Hai Duong to consider allowing Dong Tam North Joint Stock Company to extend the land use term for 24 months to implement the project. After the extension period, if the enterprise fails to complete the investment and construction and put the project into operation, the decision to terminate the investment project and reclaim the land shall be considered according to regulations.

On June 12, 2020, the Provincial People's Committee issued Notice No. 131/TB-UBND on approving the adjustment of the project implementation progress of Dong Tam Northern Joint Stock Company, in which the Provincial People's Committee approved the extension of the project implementation progress until June 30, 2022. However, in the period of 2020-2022, the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, developed complicatedly, affecting the production and business activities of the enterprise. This is an objective reason. At the end of 2022, the enterprise continued to propose to adjust the project. The enterprise requested to reduce the land use area from 45 hectares to nearly 44 hectares to comply with the land use right certificate, increasing the total investment of the project from 920 billion VND to more than 1,300 billion VND.

Recently, implementing the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Planning and Investment coordinated with departments, branches and localities to review investment projects in production and business outside industrial parks. The project of Dong Tam North Joint Stock Company is on the list of projects behind schedule and not implemented in accordance with regulations. After assessing and evaluating the actual situation, the Department of Planning and Investment advised the Provincial People's Committee to impose administrative sanctions on investment violations of Dong Tam North Joint Stock Company before reviewing the project adjustment dossier. Currently, the enterprise has complied with the fine, the Department of Planning and Investment has urged the investor to complete the dossier and send it to the department before May 30.

The project of Dong Tam Northern Joint Stock Company has been dragging on for many years, with half-hearted implementation. There needs to be a decisive solution to avoid affecting the province's investment and business environment.