The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
still seem to want to pursue the Son Tra master plan in the central city of Da
Nang, despite the major warnings that it will badly affect the peninsula's
ecosystem. Nguyen Van Tuan, Director General of Viet Nam National
Administration of Tourism, said on May 23rd that the master plan was agreed
back in 2003 in accordance with the Politburo's Resolution 33 about Da Nang's
development. The Viet Nam Tourism Development Plan to 2020 approved by the prime
minister also stated that Son Tra Peninsula is one of Viet Nam's 47 potential
locations that can be developed into a national tourism site. The Ministry of
Culture, Sports and Tourism has worked closely with Da Nang City authorities to
draft the master plan back in the early 2000s. They also sent the plan and
gained approval from most major agencies including the Ministry of Public
Security and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development over a decade
ago. Tuan went on to say that the master plan only determines the goals,
characteristics and the scale of the development and it is the basis a detailed
plan. He also denied that the master plan violated the Law on Investment. According
to the ministry, only 21 out of 1,056 hectares are forest land and they promise
to follow the laws in using the forest for tourism. "Son Tra has
35.5km-long coastal area," Tuan said. "Wild animals and fish can
still safely access the beach," Tuan claimed, failing to cite any sources.
In 2013, Son Tra has 4,439 hectares of natural area, yet Da Nang authorities
gave approval to 18 projects with 5,049 rooms. The ministry said they would cut
some projects to reduce the number of rooms to 1,600. Deputy Prime Minister Vu
Duc Dam said if it was necessary, the scale of the plan would be reduced to
protect the environment. However, Huynh Tan Vinh, Chairman of Da Nang Tourism
Association said the public didn't oppose the plan for no reason. "You
must understand the land that will be used. If they haven’t done any field
surveys how are we supposed to believe they’ve got a credible plan for Son
Tra?” he said. Vinh went on to say that the number of rooms didn't matter, what
was more important was the biodiversity that would be affected by mass
construction and the needed measures to protect the environment. In April, more
than 10,361 residents in Da Nang City signed a petition to the government to
reconsider the master plan. Da Nang Tourism Association said no more hotel and
resort projects should be licensed on the peninsula as the city already had 600
hotels and some 20,000 guest rooms, which are enough to serve 15 million
visitors a year.
Ministry ignores environmental opposition to controversial tourist plan
Posted by Focus on Arts and Ecology on
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