The ‘sidewalk reclamation’ campaign held in Ho Chi Minh City during the first half of the year turned out to be considerably less effective than expected, at least in financial terms.
The latest statistics show that authorities spent a great deal of money on launching the sidewalk crackdowns, while the total amount of administrative fines collected paled in comparison.
In District 9, for instance, the total cost of clearing the sidewalks reached a whopping VND1.6 billion (US$70,485) compared to the VND37 million ($1,630) worth of fines issued to violators.
The extreme financial disparity between clearing costs and fines was also present in District 2, where only VND40 million ($1,760) in pecuniary punihsment were issued.
In Thu Duc District, the campaign proved more effective, with more than VND2 billion ($88,106) collected from civil fines.
Authorities in the district’s 12 wards launched a combined 4,981 inspections in the Jan-Jun period, whereas the respective numbers of crackdowns held by the local market surveillance teams and police were 789 and 1,545.
However, authorities in these districts admitted that despite the crackdowns, many sidewalks remained illegally occupied.
District officials also acknowledge that some campaigns were not very serious and many violators were not severely punished, therefore failing to change people’s perceptions on the importance of keeping sidewalks clean and clear.
Similar campaigns will continue to be launched in the latter part of this year, according to the districts’ officials.
The ‘sidewalk reclamation’ drive was first initiated in District 1, with deputy chairman Doan Ngoc Hai directly leading inspection teams on numerous crackdowns.
Other districts later followed the model.
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