Pham Tuan, a Hero of Vietnamese People’s Armed Forces, said in an interview that he is not happy with rumours that a road was made to curve away from their homes because of their status.
Lieutenant-General Pham Tuan
Lieutenant-General Pham Tuan, one of those who have homes near the curved section of Truong Chinh Road, said that before planning for the road expansion began they voluntarily built their houses around 12 metres back from the roadside to facilitate the future expansion.
A section of Truong Chinh Road running though the Air Defence-Air Force Service is now curved southward. This has stirred up public rumours that it was done to avoid the houses of state officials. Being one of those who have houses near the area, what do you think?
I’m really unhappy when I read in the news that the Truong Chinh Road was bent to avoid my house and houses of some other state officials. It does not make sense to me.
Did municipal authorities gather opinions from local residents during the planning phase of the road expansion project, and did you have any influence over the plan?
Nobody asked for my ideas. They just came when they did the site clearance. I agreed to their clearance plan and compensation rate. I don’t know what’s wrong with the Hanoi Department of Planning and Architecture’s plan but I did not influence them.
Did you hear any comments about the bent or straight road at that time?
They have had the plan since 2008 when it was made public. The road was to take up four metres of our land but no one opposed it. My guess is that the two tall, recently-completed buildings near the road made people think that the road curved to avoid them. I think these rumours were started by people who don’t understand the planning. All buildings here were considered in the planning phase, as their construction began in 2011, two years after the plan was made.
The curved section of road
The problem is that the road now bends instead of being straight as it was before. So, there must be a reason, and there is public concern that the homes of the upper-class and large buildings by Ho Me Lake are the reason. How would you address those concerns?
I agreed with the road expansion planning and site clearance. I don’t believe it to be true that the bend in the road is to serve the interests of certain groups. When the city made plans for the road expansion, I and most of those who live in this area were retired, so we did not wield much power. Also, we were not Hanoian officials, so would have no sway over municipal planning. We didn’t bribe anyone. How could we have convinced them to change their plans for us?
They may have decided to make the road curve because it’s more spacious, while the residential area is more crowded.
Some say that there is no important national defense infrastructure in the north, so it would have been feasible to expand the road northward, keeping the road straight without compensating security. What is your take on this point of view?
I think you should do a survey to get to know more about what is important for our national defense. Our national defense infrastructure includes works of many types. Even though we are now in peacetime, we should not use land that is necessary to our security to for civil projects.
If Truong Chinh Road were to be expanded northward, would you be willing to hand over all your land to facilitate the construction?
I and some other military officers were temporarily allocated land in this area in 1990 for house construction. We did not get certificates for land use rights until 2008. At that time, Truong Chinh Road was rather narrow and we decided on our own to build our houses 12 metres back from the road so they could expand in the future. We did this without being asked by authorities.
Now, if the road is expanded northward, we’ll be willing to hand over the land. I’m aware of my responsibilities to society. If that happens, I’m still much luckier than my comrades who died during the war.
Thank you very much!
Đăng ký: VietNam News
