District 2 will be merged with District 9 and Thu Duc District to become Thu Duc City (Source: VNA)HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - HCM City is proposing a new urban administrationmodel that aims to streamline the state governance system andensure people’s rights and obligations.
The new model is expected to help solve major problems faced byHCM City and promote the city’s role in the southern region and thecountry’s development.
The city’s population and economic scale and density is thelargest in the country, which requires that administrativedecisions should be carried out by grassroots-level authorities, residentsand enterprises in a timely, precise, and organised manner, as required by themodel.
The urban administration model is also expected to help shorten thetime to develop plans for socio-economic development.
Speaking at a conference on urban administration in HCM City Nguyen ThanhPhong, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said the administrationproject was first proposed in 2007 and amended in 2013. Legalproblems delayed its implementation last year.
The city began abolishing People’s Councils for a number of years agoin an effort to reduce overlapping functions and tasks of stategovernance and reduce expenditures.
As a result, governance improved, according to Phong. However, the eliminationof the councils was stopped in 2016.
In a rapidly developing urban area like HCM City, People’s Councilsin districts and wards create an intermediate level that slows downthe working process. And the authority assigned to councils isalready limited. Abolishing these People’s Councils helps tostreamline administrative procedures.
Phong said that next year HCM City will restart the elimination of thesePeople's Councils. The councils in 19 districts and 259 wards will beabolished around mid-year.
After the conference, the Ministry of Home Affairs will submit aproposal on the new urban administration model to the Government forconsideration and will then submit it to the National Assembly for approval atits next meeting, Deputy Minister Tran Anh Tuan said adding that theministry will issue detailed regulations soon on how to carry out theNational Assembly’s Resolution on building a new urban administrationmodel in the city.
In another city project, Thu Duc city will be developed by mergingDistricts 2, 9, and Thu Duc. The new city will have a People’s Council andPeople’s Committee.
Thu Duc city will be expected to take the core role to speed up the city’seconomy as the southern region’s main economic zone.
After establishment, the new city will contribute nearly 30 percent of thecity’s gross regional domestic product and 7 per cent of the country’s grossdomestic product.
Huynh Thanh Nhan, head of the Department of Home Affairs, said that Thu Duc citywill cover 211 square kilometres and be home to more than 1million people.
Thu Duc city will be developed into eight centres including Thu Thiem InternationalFinance Centre, Rach Chiec Health and Sport Area, High Technology Centre,Educational Technology Centre, Tam Da Ecotechnology, Truong Tho ResidentialArea, Long Phuoc University Area and Cat Lai International Port./.
VNA
