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[vivian]

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[vivian]

At the 16th meeting of the HCM City Peoples’ Council (legislature) in July, residents presented many petitions. They addressed issues of transportation, architectural planning, land and environment, flood protection and compensation for expropriated land and site clearance.  Petitions that were accepted by the Council were forwarded to the City’s executive arm, the People’s Committee, for action.

 

Before the 17th meeting, which opens on December 8, a report by the People’s Committee said that related departments “have exerted efforts to solve petitions and sent reports to the People’s Council to answer the people.”

 

Lots of people say that’s not true, according to VietNamNet.

 

Nothing is solved

 

Referring to a voters’ petition that the City control and supervise the implementation of water drainage projects on roads to prevent traffic jams and ensure the good appearance of streets, the HCM City authorities’ report said “the city is focusing on implementing many key infrastructure projects, including water drainage projects funded by ODA capital. These projects have to be carried out at the pace committed with the donors. Contractors have been asked to work three shifts per day to speed up the construction.” There’s no detail on how the Department of Transportation implemented the city’s instruction.

 

HCM City residents still see many barricaded roads that are empty of workers.  Thus, the city’s request to contractors is not obeyed and the people’s petition is not answered at all.

 

Similarly, people are upset by the authorities’ answer to a question from Tan Phu District voters as to why the City doesn’t allow advertising on buses to reduce the burden on the city’s budget. The report said: “The People’s Committee has allowed advertising inside buses on a trial basis.  More time is needed to research the question of whether to permit advertising on the outside of buses, to avoid visual pollution and negative impacts on traffic safety. Many buses are old and they will be replaced by new buses. The People’s Committee has assigned the Department of Transportation to continue researching and report to have specific guidance”.

 

This ‘issue’ is a hardy perennial. Advertising on buses was proposed by the Department of Transportation itself several years ago. Specialized ministries and agencies have confirmed that advertisement on buses is legal and that it is up to HCM City to manage this matter.

 

The People’s Committee refers to “solutions” to local people’s petitions in its report, says VietNamNet, but nothing is solved.

 

In Hanoi, congested streets focus complaints

 

In a second story, VietNamNet reports that Hanoi citizens, downtowners and suburbanites alike, are intent on raising their concern about clogged and torn-up streets when that city’s Council convenes on December 8 for a four day session. Petitions are piled high, says the online newspaper, about the sorry state of streets such as Au Co, Lang and La Thanh, the Post Office-Cau Am intersection in Ha Dong, and many more tie ups in high-construction districts like Tu Liem, Gia Lam and Tuong Tin.

 

Slow compensation for expropriated land is another hot issue.

 

Action is needed, not explanation

 

In the eyes of the people, when leaders fail to solve problems thoroughly, they don’t fulfill their responsibility, asserts VietNamNet.

 

A member of the City People’s Council, Nguyen Dang Nghia, said that at the 17th meeting of the People’s Council, he will ask officials to provide specific solutions for the people’s petitions, not just explanations. Deputy Nghia’s opinion is perhaps just what the city’s people want; they have tired of repeating their petitions about pollution, traffic jams, flood, etc. from meetings to meeting but seeing no concrete result.

 

VietNamNet judges that the local authorities’ “failure to keep promises” has eroded the people’s trust in them, and urges the members of the People’s Council to flex their muscles. The Council members “are the ones who can put pressure on the authorities and supervise their work. . . . This role and power must be exercised routinely, not just at Council meetings,” the online paper says.