Thanh Hoa City's People Committee chairman Nguyen Dinh Xung has said the city needs a new, costly administrative complex because their current buildings are run down.

Thanh Hoa new administrative complex project

Last month, Thanh Hoa City authorities were instructed to halt a USD29m project to build a new administrative complex due to fears over the country’s overspending. An official document was also issued last November to ask all local authorities to stop carrying out such projects due to public spending constraints.

The complex would include three main buildings for day-to-day work, conference centre and guest house as well as other support structures to serve a population of one million people.

City chairman Xung said in a report submitted on May 30 that the old city headquarters dated back to the 1980s. The buildings were built to serve 200,000 people and have deteriorated over time so they now couldn’t service 400,000 people in 20 wards and 17 communes.

A new administrative complex is necessary because the old headquarters couldn’t be upgraded or renovated. According to the city authorities, the project will be funded from the city budget and investment from Vingroup.

In order to help Vingroup recoup their capital, the provincial authorities gave them two other projects include new urban area in Dien Bien Ward and a hotel, commercial complex on the land of old headquarters of the city people's committee.

Before the project was halted, the city authorities took the rash move to move out and the old headquarters have been demolished for the commercial project.