A project turning Thanh Da peninsula in Ho Chi Minh City into an ecological urban area has been repeatedly delayed for 30 years after its announcement, leaving thousands of residents in miserable conditions.

The development plan, approved by the municipal administration in 1992, has remained on paper ever since and has been negatively affecting the lives of more than 3,000 households.

Thanh Da covers an area of 570 hectares in Ward 28 of Binh Thanh District and was zoned in 1992 to become an ecological urban area.

Therefore, locals are not permitted to build new house or transfer their land to others.

A bird's eye view of houses on Thanh Da peninsula in Binh Thanh District overlooking the developed parts of Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Huu Hanh / Tuoi Tre

In 2004, the municipal People’s Committee chose Saigon Construction Corporation as the developer of the urban area.

After the administration was forced to cease the plan due to slugglish compensation, they selected a joint-venture between Bitexco Group and Emaar Properties PJSC as the new developer in 2015.

Emaar Properties PJSC then withdrew from the project in mid-2017, putting the plan on hold once again.

A bird's eye view of makeshift houses on Thanh Da peninsula in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Huu Hanh / Tuoi Tre

Miserable life

Due to the implementation of the plan, local residents are deprived of their rights to transfer their land, build new houses, or sell their properties.

Many have been forced to abandon their land and rent houses elsewhere in the city.

Meanwhile, others who are burdened with financial issues and have no choice but to stay have been facing various difficulties due to degraded infrastructures.

Children play on a street on Thanh Da peninsula in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Huu Hanh / Tuoi Tre

Residing in a neighborhood in Thanh Da, Phan Thi Thanh Thuy and her seven family members are now living in a house built without the authorities’ permission on a 100-square-meter land plot she purchased a long time ago.

The house was forced to be pulled down by the authorities three times, after each of which Thuy’s family put up another temporary shelter using old planks of wood and corrugated iron to accommodate the eight of them.

The roof of Phan Thi Thanh Thuy's house is just a few inches higher than a person’s height. Photo: Huu Hanh / Tuoi Tre

The house’s roof is just a few inches higher than a person’s height and is made of plastic tarpaulin, leaving furniture all wet after every single rain.

“I knew my family’s properties would be affected by the project when I was still young, but I didn’t expect its negative impacts would linger through my children’s time and now my grandchildren’s,” said Thuy.

Ferries leave and arrive at a wharf on Thanh Da peninsula in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Huu Hanh / Tuoi Tre

Residents of Thanh Da like Thuy have lived without proper streets and sewer systems, with Kinh Bridge being the only concrete structure connecting the peninsula with other parts of the city over the past decades.

Traveling by ferry or boat is another option to reach and exit the peninsula.

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