The wife of a local official in Hai Phong, a northern port city of Vietnam, has got a VND65-million (US$2,769) fine for the illegal construction of nine attached houses.

Authorities in Kien An District on Friday imposed this administrative fine on Le Thi Thao, 54, an investor representative of the houses.

She is the wife of Vu Khac Hiep, chairman of the government in Lam Ha Ward, Kien An District.

Hiep’s family was fined VND30 million ($1,278) for encroaching on 101.5 square meters of non-agricultural land in an urban area and VND35 million ($1,491) for building the houses without any construction permit.

Authorities in Kien An District on Friday imposed a VND65-million ($2,769) fine on Hiep’s family for encroaching on 101.5 square meters of non-agricultural land in an urban area and building the houses without any construction permit. Photo: Tien Thang / Tuoi Tre

Besides, Thao was forced to demolish the houses illegally built on a land plot in Quan Tru Ward within 30 days and restore the original state of the encroached area.

She has to complete dossiers seeking for the authorities’ construction permit within 30 days.

The administration of Quan Tru Ward in the city discovered the family of Hiep broke ground on the nine attached houses in an urban area early this year and later found that these houses were built without construction permits.

Local officials right after that asked Thao to stop the illegal construction and complete procedures to get the permits as per prevailing regulations.

However, Thao and her family ignored the warning and continued the illegal construction.

The nine illegally built houses are located behind Hiep’s house Photo: Tien Thang / Tuoi Tre

In mid-February, the local government again inspected the houses, whose third story was being built at the time, and issued a warning against the project’s investor.

The municipal construction inspectorate on February 15 asked the district administration to work with relevant agencies to examine the origin of the affected land and take action to tackle the illegally built houses, as well as forced the house investor to stop the construction.

Commenting on the issue, Pham Van Khanh, Party chief of the district, said the local government will adopt drastic moves to handle the violation committed by Hiep’s family.

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