Land has been illegally allocated to businesses in Hanoi’s Thanh Tri Ward.

Dozens of processing facilities appeared on the land near Red River in Thanh Tri Ward. According to the locals, these facilities are unlicensed yet they have run for years. In one case, even though the licence of Da River Viet Duc Co., Ltd had expired, it has continued to operate.

The licence of Da River Viet Duc Co., Ltd had expired, it has continued to operate

In 2005, the authorities of Thanh Tri Ward allocated 17,000 square metres to Hong Anh Construction and Trading Investment Company to plant trees. In reality, Hong Anh Company leased 12,500 square metres to various other companies to build a driving training ground, offices and warehouses.

In 2013, Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment stated that ward authorities did not have authorisation to lease public land. But it proposed to let the firms which had already signed contracts with ward localities to continue renting the land and was approved.

Last year, the authorities of Hoang Mai District already worked with about 30 firms to legalise their leases but the process has been slow.

Vice chairman of Hanoi, Nguyen Quoc Hung, then asked agencies to quickly classify which firms meet requirements to have their leases legalised and which firms should be moved out. Chairman of Hoang Mai District Nguyen Quang Hieu agreed.

In the meantime, Hoang Mai District authorities are also proposing to set up a stone-processing village on the land by Red River. There are thousands of households living by the Red River but schools, hospitals and the infrastructure are lacking. They hope that the project will help improve the area's infrastructure.