Hanoi district authorities criticised and punished around 20 officials for violations related to construction management in 2011, said the municipal People’s Committee.

A violation case on Ba Trieu Street 

According to the committee, they were mainly secretaries, chairmen and construction inspectors of wards and communes.

A meeting was held on June 26 in Hanoi on urban construction management. At the meeting, many district representatives said construction violations have become a controversial issue, particularly the fact that many officials have supported violators, including those in Hai Ba Trung, Ba Dinh, Tay Ho, Hoan Kiem and Soc Son districts.

Statistics from the committee showed that since January 2010 the city discovered around 1,700 construction violations, including 1,104 public and agricultural land encroachment cases for construction works; 490 unlicensed construction cases; 100 cases of projects that do not adhere to the terms of their licenses and six cases that used shoddy construction methods that have affected their surrounding houses.

Hanoi authorities also tore down 601 construction works and asked investors to destroy 294 other works due to their violations of building codes.

These violations have largely been blamed on lax management at the ward and commune level. A number of districts still lack strict supervision of land use. In particular, the municipal Department of Construction was blamed for not paying due attention to their oversight duties.

Source: Dtinews