Resettlement arrangements for households displaced by Long Thanh Airport 'basically completed'

The Long Thanh District People's Committee announced on Wednesday that the reviews and resettlement arrangement for households displaced by the megaproject Long Thanh International Airport have been 'basically completed'.

Loc An-Binh Son resettlement area serving the households displaced by Long Thanh International Airport. — VNA/VNS Photo

To execute the project, the State had to reclaim 5,000ha of land from various organisations and almost 5,600 households (amounting to over 7,200 cases) in the southern district.

Functional departments have reviewed the resettlement files for over 5,500 households. About 4,500 of these households meet the criteria and have been allocated land for relocation, while over 1,000 households do not qualify for resettlement.

Currently, only a handful of household cases are still under review, and it is anticipated that by early October, all cases will be resolved.

After being allocated land, over 1,600 households have constructed houses and moved to the Loc An-Binh Son Resettlement Area, which is designated for the airport project's resettlement purposes.

To ensure stable livelihoods for people in their new homes, the Long Thành District authorities are collaborating with relevant units to assist people in finding employment and vocational training.

Le Van Tiep, Chairman of the People's Committee of Long Thanh District, mentioned that the land recovery and resettlement arrangements for this extensive project have encountered various challenges.

In 2005, the Government approved the airport planning. However, it took 13 years for the relevant authorities to announce land recovery.

Many residents, having lived in the zoned planning land areas for an extended period, had to transfer usage rights through unofficial methods such as handwritten papers. This was especially prevalent in multi-generational families, leading to an increased number of households needing resettlement, Tiep observed.

From this project, district authorities recognised the importance of building trust, valuing the residents' views during the land recovery and resettlement process, and intensifying the inspection and rigorous management of violations.

Moreover, it's essential to boost public understanding of the project's purpose and importance, as well as the Party's guidelines and state laws.

In August, Dong Nai Province finalised the land clearance for the Long Thanh Airport Project and has transferred 2,532 out of the 2,532 hectares needed for the project's Phase 1 to the investor.

The Long Thanh International Airport, spanning more than 5,580 hectares, will cover six communes in Long Thanh District. The airport’s total cost is estimated at VND336.63 trillion (US$14.2 billion), with construction segmented into three phases.

In the initial phase, a runway, a passenger terminal, and other support facilities will be erected at a cost of VND109.1 trillion to accommodate 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo annually.

Work on the project began in 2021. Once entirely finished by 2050, the airport will have the capacity to serve 100 million passengers and manage 5 million tonnes of cargo each year.

Situated 40km east of HCM City, the airport aims to alleviate the intensifying congestion at the bustling Tan Son Nhat International Airport in the southern metropolis, currently the nation's largest airport.

(Source: VNS)