As reported by TheLEADER, Gamuda Land has adjusted the planning of Gamuda Gardens by adding 130 units of villas and townhouses into the area, raising the number of house units up to 362.
However, residents of Gamuda Gardens said that despite getting no approval for the adjusted planning, the company had signed distribution agreements and got the deposit from customers.
Some people living in the Gamuda Gardens expressed their discontent with the investor’s adjustment plan as it might impact detrimentally on residents, especially those living in low-rise subdivisions.
They also expressed their annoyance when the investors cooperated with the people's committee of Tran Phu ward to collect residents’ comments in the office hours while many votes were collected from the people having no direct interest.
According to the current laws of Vietnam, the adjustment of project planning must be agreed by residents; however, authorities and Gamuda Land's method of collecting consultation has raised the malcontent among people.
Investor’s explanation
Gamuda Gardens is one of the four subdivisions of the 500-hectare Gamuda City project located in Hoang Mai district, Hanoi.
This is the project whose implementation is facilitated by the Government for Gamuda Land to recover its investment capital when developing Yen So park and Yen So sewage treatment plant as two build-transfer projects.
At the dialogue with residents, project manager at Gamuda Land Tran Lai Cong Binh said that Gamuda Gardens was put into operation in 2013 but the capital recovery is slower than the original plan, affecting the investment efficiency of BT projects.
He explained that the products did not meet the requirement of the market when people are less likely to buy houses with large area plots and non-standard shapes that are not suitable for feng shui.
Therefore, after many consultations, the investor must change the planning of the project to meet the requirement of the market.
Gamuda Land's general director Tan Khai Lock said that the adjustment would not only create products meeting the requirement of customers and help to soon complete the construction of the urban area but also soon provide a real urban area for people with services and facilities.
The investor also explained that according to the adjusted planning, the area of land for business decreases by 5,919 square meters and the proportion of residential land also reduces down to 27 from 28 per cent. In addition, the areas of plants and social infrastructure are expanded.
According to the investor of Gamuda Gardens, the adjustment would not influence the function, scale, and operation of the subdivisions that had been completed.
However, Gamuda Gardens residents did not accept these explanations.
Dissidence in views
Chu Ngoc Tuan, a resident of Gamuda Gardens worried that the residential density would increase if the investor adjusts the project planning, negatively impacting on the rights of people living in the area.
Accordingly, adding 130 housing units could lead to an increase of 768 people in the population of the area which is equivalent to 85 per cent. Besides, the number of vehicles would also increase, putting more pressure on the infrastructure system.
“Reducing facilities and increasing the residential density, the investor is cheating and abandoning us while focusing on their profit only,” said Dung, another resident of Gamuda Gardens.
Dung said that the commitment of Gamuda Land in developing schools, kindergarten, and hospital had not been implemented.
In addition, he said that the investor was breaking the contract with residents of Gamuda Gardens as the general planning of the whole urban area as well as the ST5 subdivision’s was attached in the contract.
He highlighted that the home purchase contract expressed the relationship between the buyer and the seller, so the investor wanting to change the contract must consult the buyer.
However, representative of Gamuda Land affirmed that the planning in the contract was just used to help residents define the location of their house.
Regarding the question concerning whether the necessity to re-sign the contract, Tan Khai Lock said that the company would consult its lawyer and inform the residents later.
In addition, although Gamuda Land has just proposed to adjust the project planning in early May, it has announced to sell houses on its website since the end of last year. The adjusted planning of ST5 subdivision has been displayed in the center of the urban area. The investor has even received a deposit of $8,795 per unit.
Gamuda Land said that the distribution of houses in the ST5 subdivision has been implemented by its distributor Cenland.
After half a day of discussion last weekend, Gamuda Gardens residents and investor could not reach any consensus.
