14 illegally built villas in Phu Quoc were demolished

Kien Giang: After nearly a year of demolishing two villas, Phu Quoc City authorities forcibly demolished 14 more out of a total of 79 illegal constructions on public land, on September 18.

79 villas were illegally built on public land 5 years ago, when Phu Quoc was developing rapidly and land prices were high. The residential area was planned quite neatly with 6-8 meter wide concrete roads, connecting to main roads; complete electricity and water systems.

Each villa was built on a 200-350 m2 plot of land, occupying a total area of nearly 19 hectares. There are 140 vacant plots in this area that have not been built on. When discovered, the local authorities repeatedly invited the investor to work, but they ignored them and closed the villas for months. So far, only two villas have been demolished.

Vice Chairman of Kien Giang People's Committee Le Quoc Anh said that the province's viewpoint is to handle the case thoroughly, in accordance with regulations and without exception. The province encourages villa owners to report and denounce individuals and organizations that have defrauded people into buying public land and illegally constructing.

After completing the demolition of the project, the authorities will measure, determine the location and area, make an inventory record and hand over the land plot to the People's Committee of Duong To commune for management. For the equipment and assets that have been inventoried, if the villa owner refuses to receive them, the local authorities will manage, protect and handle them according to regulations.

Cranes dismantle two illegally built villas on the morning of September 18. Photo: Ngoc Tai — Cranes dismantle two illegally built villas on the morning of September 18. Photo: *Ngoc Tai*

Previously, in mid-2022, Kien Giang authorities established a special task force to handle the situation of encroachment on public land and forest land, which has caused outrage for a long time. As a result, the team inspected, handled, and recovered nearly 140 hectares of illegally occupied forest land and forestry planning land.

In addition to many illegally built villas and projects, the province also discovered 40 encroachment projects, embankments, piers, bars, and unlicensed bungalows in the Phu Quoc marine reserve, which is over 40,000 hectares wide.

More than 11 violations have been transferred to the investigation agency for forest destruction, 7 cases have been prosecuted with 11 defendants, and three cases are being consolidated. The Phu Quoc City Forest Protection Department has administratively sanctioned 165 cases, fined nearly 1.5 billion VND, and forced the restoration of over 50 hectares of forest...

Ngoc Tai

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