Hotels, restaurants built on defense land in Khanh Hoa

Many hotels and restaurants have been built on defense land plots in Nha Trang town of Khanh Hoa province without approved investment plans.

Meanwhile, the provincial People's Committee is waiting for new master plans to consider whether they are suitable or not.

Many projects yet to be approved

According to the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, service facilities like hotels, restaurants and car showrooms have been constructed on seven plots of defense land in prime locations across Nha Trang.

Notably, most of these projects were developed without zoning plans, approved investment plans and construction procedures.

Among those is the 4,567-square-meter Mipec Hotel Nha Trang at No. 62 Tran Phu street. In 2016, the provincial Military Command and Van Xuan General Import-Export Company under the Ministry of National Defense signed a business cooperation contract to build the hotel. Currently, the project is in operation without an investment plan approved by the provincial People's Committee.

The second project, Ford Nha Trang Center, is a 14,000-square-meter center for car trading, warranty, maintenance and repair at No. 51 Le Hong Phong street.

In 2014, the provincial Military Command signed an investment cooperation contract to implement the project with Tan Thanh Do Group JSC, a unit outside the defense ministry. Currently, this project is also operating without approval on investment plans from the people's committee.

Also in the list are the Galina Hotel & Spa at No. 5 Hung Vuong street, the headquarters of MBBank Khanh Hoa branch at No. 9 Le Thanh Ton street, the Bach Kim Hotel at No. 86A Tran Phu street, and a restaurant, cafe and healthcare service complex at No. 34 Nguyen Thien Thuat street.

Waiting for new master plans

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that according to the relevant government decrees and National Assembly resolutions, the provincial people's committee is responsible for providing written comments on the appropriateness of the use of defense and security land in combination with production and economic development activities in line with approved local master plans.

Currently, Khanh Hoa is amending master plans of the province and Nha Trang town for the 2021-2030 period, with vision until 2045. They include the provincial master plan for 2021-2030, with vision until 2045; the amended master plan of Nha Trang until 2040; and the land use planning of the town until 2030. These schemes have not yet been approved by competent state agencies in line with regulations.

Therefore, provincial authorities have no basis to comment on the suitability of the use of defense and security land in combination with production and economic development activities.