The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has decided to reclaim and then put on auction two adjoining land plots in District 5 that have been sold to two companies to develop a project for a high-rise building, according to a Tuoi Tre source. The decision was made after city inspectors reported that the area, which is considered “golden land” by the real estate world, has been transferred improperly, meaning the project could not be implemented. Under the decision, a 1,240 square meter plot at 107 Tran Hung Dao Street, Ward 8, District 5 will be reclaimed from the Saigon Garment Manufacturing Trading Joint Stock Company, to which the authorities sold the land in 2007 for VND101 billion (US$4.84 million). Similarly, another plot, about 1,000 square meters in size, at 107B Tran Hung Dao Street will be withdrawn from the District 5 Housing Development and Management Company, which bought the land for VND84 billion from authorities the same year. Both companies were supposed to partner with the Hong Quang Construction and Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company to develop and build a commercial high-rise structure on the land. However, after buying the plots, the two companies transferred them to another businesses who failed to establish a legal status to enable them to invest in and develop the project. Along with reclaiming the land, the People’s Committee has also cancelled the legal document in which the authorities approved the investment cooperation between the three above-mentioned companies.