Construction of $466mn Asia Park hits by land disputes in central Vietnam

In 2013, the Cong Vien Chau A Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of realty developer Sun Group, was allocated 846,632 square meters in Hoa Cuong Bac Ward in Hai Chau District by the Da Nang administration to develop the Asia Park project.

The VND10 trillion (US$466.03 million) project is deemed necessary to boost the development of Da Nang’s economy and tourism, according to the city’s administration.

With the massive area owned by many residents, the municipal government had to compensate them to withdraw their land plots and give them to the Sun Group.

The city announced the land withdrawal in late May 2013, and set the highest compensation price at VND3.47 million ($162) a square meter, which land owners complained is far lower than the sum they spent purchasing the land lots back in 2006.

“At that time I bought the land for VND8 million [$373] per square meter,” said Luong Dinh Hue, who owns eight land lots in the area where the Asia Park is being built.

Hue spent a total of VND38 billion ($1.77 million) on an area of 4,300 square meters, and the city’s administration has suggested compensating him VND3.47 million per square meter at most.

“It means I’ll receive VND11 billion [$512,629] for my VND38 billion investment, or a VND27 billion [$1.26 million] loss,” Hue lamented.

Nguyen Thi Hoa, who bought 2,000 square meters of land in the same area for VND12 billion ($559,232), was also shocked when she was told the compensation would only be VND5.3 billion ($246,994), or less than half of her investment.

Vo Duy Khuong, standing deputy chairman of the Da Nang administration, admitted that some of the land owners still disagree with the compensation rates.

“They want to be recompensed at the market prices,” Khuong said, adding the demand is hard to meet because “the land plots were sold to them at quite soft prices.”

While the municipal administration has been accused of treating the land owners unfairly, it seems to have given the investor behind Asia Park preferential treatment.

The Da Nang administration ruled in 2013 that Cong Vien Chau A Co. had to pay the land usage fee for 600,000 square meters of the 846,632 square meter land plot for a 70-year term.

But two years after receiving the land, the company has yet to pay a single penny of the fee, even though it inaugurated a giant Ferris wheel at the park in July last year.

Khuong, the official from the municipal administration, said it is because the city has yet to determine how much the company has to pay in order to use the land.

“The fee remains not to be calculated because we have yet to settle the compensation dispute with the land owners,” Khuong explained.

The official added, however, that the city’s administration will ensure the investor pays the fee.

“There is no way the city earmarked money for site clearance and compensation and receives nothing from the investor,” he reassured.

Khuong also dismissed allegations that the Asia Park investor is favored by local authorities.

“We will collect taxes from the investor once the project is operational,” he said.