Why was a 12-story hotel in Phu Quoc illegally built just demolished?

Kien Giang: Prolonged Covid-19, transfer, owner evasion, and lack of decisiveness from the government are the reasons why the 12-storey project in the coastal city built without permission has been prolonged.

Four days ago, Mr. Vu Manh Hung, the hotel owner, started to demolish a 12-storey building with an area of 2,700 m2 in Cua Lap hamlet, Duong To commune, Phu Quoc city. The building is located on Tran Hung Dao street, right at the gateway to the city.

The 12-story hotel before being demolished. Photo: Tran Thanh — The 12-story hotel before being demolished. Photo: *Tran Thanh*

According to a report by the People's Committee of Phu Quoc City, in 2016 the previous owner of this project was licensed with a floor area of over 700 m2, including 6 floors. When implementing, the owner built beyond the licensed area, adding 300 m2 and in the wrong location. The hotel finished the rough construction and then stopped construction, for unknown reasons.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the project added 6 more floors without permission. The previous owner transferred the project to Mr. Hung. In July 2022, Mr. Hung was fined more than 60 million VND for not building according to the approved plan and transferring nearly 500 square meters of perennial crops to non -agricultural land in rural areas. The authorities forced him to restore the original status.

Cranes are removing concrete construction on the top floors. Photo: Duong Dong — Cranes are removing concrete construction on the top floors. Photo: *Duong Dong*

Mr. Hung agreed to pay the fine, but did not dismantle the illegal construction. Nearly a year later, the People's Committee of Phu Quoc City issued a decision to enforce the demolition, giving the project owner three months to dismantle it themselves. On the other hand, the coastal city government asked the Department of Construction to guide the development and appraisal of the demolition plan. If the project owner does not correct the situation, enforcement will be carried out according to regulations.

Late last year, after many attempts to avoid it, the hotel owner asked to demolish it himself, but the city government requested that it be done before June 1, 2024. The project owner said the total investment capital of the project was more than 100 billion VND. He hired a professional unit to carry out the demolition, which took about three months.

Currently, the People's Committee of Phu Quoc City has not yet informed the reason for the delay in discovering the 12-story building built without permission. Previously, the city leaders explained many times that the project owners took advantage of the pandemic to build, and when discovered, tried to avoid it; the local staff was thin while Phu Quoc had many violations and a large number of forced evictions.

Demolition of illegally built 12-storey hotel in Phu Quoc — The demolished building is located in the center of Phu Quoc City. Video : *Duong Dong*

Specifically, the city has more than 250 compensation and resettlement projects, and must reclaim more than 11,000 hectares of land to hand over to investors, so it faces a lot of pressure. The city People's Committee said that it has not loosened management, but acknowledged that at each time and place, it has not been resolute.

After the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate in 2018, the city has enforced more than 600 cases including illegal construction and encroachment on forest land. The workload to be handled is too large for a district-level government like Phu Quoc, according to city leaders.

Ngoc Tai

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