The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has asked local departments and agencies to comprehensively review a project to renovate Phan Dinh Phung Sports Center at a prime location in District 3, which has been abandoned for 13 years, and propose solutions to the city prior to August 30.

In particular, the Department of Culture and Sports was assigned to review and assess the investment process in the project, including the scale, cost, purposes, and execution time, according to a statement on municipal vice-chairmen Duong Anh Duc and Bui Xuan Cuong’s conclusions at a meeting to remove obstacles to the project.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment will cooperate with the Ministry of Finance and other relevant departments and agencies to review the legality of land lots which will be used to make payments for the project.

The city asked the Department of Planning and Investment to join hands with the Department of Justice to review the investment procedures of the project and related regulations to ensure compliance with the law.

The municipal administration earlier established a working team led by deputy director of the Department of Planning and Investment Pham Trung Kien to remove bottlenecks of the Phan Dinh Phung Sports Center renovation project.

The team also includes director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Toan Thang, deputy director of the Department of Culture and Sports Nguyen Nam Nhan, deputy director of the Department of Finance Nguyen Ngoc Thao, deputy director of the Department of Justice Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh, and deputy director of the Department of Construction Le Tran Kien.

The Phan Dinh Phung Sports Center, bounded by four inner-city streets, including Pasteur, Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, and Vo Van Tan, used to be a haunt for cultural and sports activities among city dwellers.

The center was designed to have seven stories, three basements, span an area of over 14,400 square meters, while being able to house 4,000 people.

The prime minister approved the build-transfer method for the project in 2008. Work on the project, carrying an initial price tag of VND988 billion (US$41.6 million), was scheduled to start in March 2010.

The city suggested using a plot of land at 257 Tran Hung Dao Street in Co Giang Ward, District 1 to make payments for the developers -- Compensation Clearance Corporation and An Tao Co. Ltd..

The investment was revised up to nearly VND1.4 trillion ($56.9 million) in 2013 and almost VND2 trillion ($82.2 million) in 2016.

The city set aside three more plots of land in District 1, Binh Thanh District, and Thu Duc City to make payments for the developers, but only the land lot at 257 Tran Hung Dao Street got the prime minister’s nod to serve this purpose.

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