Marina Complex project hits roadblock over environmental concerns

The municipal authorities of Danang have decided to halt the construction of the residential compound after planning experts raised concerns over its enviromental impacts. 

At a meeting, which was organized by the city's Motherland Front Committee on May 7 to review the project, experts have raised their concerns over the harmful effects that Marina Complex and other other construction works along the river bank will cause to water flow of the iconic river.

According to Phan Duc Hai, chairman of the city’s architecture and urban association, as the developer is encroaching the river, the project has one way or another narrowed the Han estuary from 700 metres wide measured in 2002 to just over 500 metres wide at present.

The Marina Complex was originally authorised in 2009 on an area of 17.5 hectares, in which land accounts for 10.5 hectares and water surface takes up 6.9 hectares.

The project was initially licensed to Vina Capital, who then sold their stake to Quoc Cuong Gia Lai JSC in 2016.

The project's development master plan and environmental impact assessment report were approved by the Danang People’s Committee over three years ago when there were no indication of its interference into the flow of the Han River and other environmental issues at the time.

Echoing Hai’s view, Professor Tran Van Nam from Danang University of Technology said that the Marina Complex would likely cause floods when the water level of the river rises in the rainy season.

However, chairwoman of Quoc Cuong Gia Lai JSC Nguyen Thi Nhu Loan said that the two major issues of the project, which iclude legal and environmental ones, had gone through reviews and evaluations prior to being approved for implementation.

The project, as Loan stressed, had undertaken two environmental impact assessments in 2011 and 2017, and accordingly has received due approval from experts, scientists and central state management agencies.

“As the project has been under construction in the past three years and is now entering its final stage of completion, the two above issues are no longer relevant for us to solve at this stage”, Loan said.

Dang Viet Dung, vice chairman of the Danang People’s Committee said that the city authorities would work with the project investor to come up with the most appropriate plan to address those issues.