Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City blame payment issues for the lack of progress on a much-needed renovation to a sports zone in the city center.  

The Bureau of Culture and Society under the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council recently examined the progress made, or lack thereof, on renovations to Phan Dinh Phung Gymnasium in District 3 on Wednesday.

The 14,000-square-meter gymnasium, which sits between Pasteur, Vo Van Tan, Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, and Nguyen Dinh Chieu Streets, has been completely fenced off since 2017 when a planned renovation was meant to break ground.

Built in 1985, Phan Dinh Phung Gymnasium’s main field was designed in accordance with the standards of the time, making it inadequate in terms of space or available equipment for many of today’s most popular sports.

Calls to renovate the sports center first began ten years ago after parts of the roof fell onto the field during the 2012 Ho Chi Minh City International Badminton Tournament.

It was estimated in 2010 that it would cost VND988 billion (US$40.3 million) to renovate Phan Dinh Phung Gymnasium. 

That number was bumped up to VND1.35 trillion ($55 million) in 2013 when the municipal People’s Committee approved an architectural design for the renovation.

In 2016, the city’s governing body approved a feasibility study report of the project that revised the estimate to a whopping VND1.95 trillion ($79.5 million), including equipment costs and loan interest during the construction period.

Twelve years on, however, no progress has been made.

Particularly, the city authorities planned to give Phat Dat Real Estate Development Joint Stock Company – the project’s investor – the land use rights of four state-owned land lots in the city as the payment for the firm’s VND1.95-trillion investment, which was meant to be carried out under a BT (build-transfer) contract.

However, the central government has yet to give approval for handing over three of those four land lots due to a paperwork bottleneck at the city level.

In his remarks to conclude Wednesday’s examination, Cao Thanh Binh, head of the Bureau of Culture and Society under the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council, said his agency will propose that the municipal People’s Committee soon settle the procedures for payment.

Binh also suggested that the municipal Department of Culture and Sports implement a short-term use plan for the vacant lot at Phan Dinh Phung Gymnasium in order to avoid waste.

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