Hanoi likely to crack down on corrupt building officials

Hanoi likely to crack down on corrupt building officials

VietNamNet Bridge – The capital city of Ha Noi will consider doubling administrative fines on construction violations with the aim of strictly tightening related regulations.

Police and transport inspectors tear down illegal shops on Highway 21A and 21B in Ha Noi. The city will consider doubling fines for construction violations.

Under a draft decree of the city’s Department of Justice, violations such as illegal adjustments of initial designs and construction cost estimates, construction quality management and post-maintenance will incur fines that are twice the maximum level stipulated by the government for the same violations.

“The doubled fines will be applied in all the 12 inner districts of the city,” announced Le Van Tang, deputy director of the city’s Department of Justice.

He added that under the same violation conditions, individual violators will be fined half of that applicable for group violators.

Representatives from relevant departments and sectors of the city gathered for a meeting earlier this week to discuss which violations will come under doubled fines.

They also proposed to impose fines for violations such as buildings under constructions without proper covering to prevent materials from falling down in the surrounding area or placing construction materials in the wrong places.

Tang from the justice department stated that all proposals at the meeting will be considered and submitted for approval at the ninth meeting of the city People’s Council in July.

Earlier last year, city authorities issued for the first time regulations on punishments on officials whose loose management has caused violations on building constructions in their managing areas.

The punishments, including denunciation and dismissal, are applicable to officials at various levels from chairmen of people’s committees, to directors of construction department, to inspectors.

So far, the city has given punishment to more than 140 officials for irresponsibility that have caused construction violations.

Last year, the city inspected more than 16,000 constructions and discovered over 3,000 violations, of which unlicensed constructions were the highest, with nearly 1,700 cases.

Since 2010, Ha Noi, together with HCM City, had been pilot doubling the fines on violations of traffic regulations for two years.

The pilot campaign was reported to have helped reduce violations in the two large cities partly.

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