HANOI: In the rolling hills of Ba Vi mountain range just outside Hanoi, the planned construction of a new safari park is causing consternation among residents and has sparked a backlash against the development of an area of great natural beauty.
A ground-breaking ceremony by developer Sun Group took place on Oct 9 for the approximately 300ha project, which, in a nod to the possible impact on land and livelihoods, has already been revised down from 580ha, according to the Hanoi authorities.
Residents have hung red banners covered in slogans criticising the park, while others have questioned on social media what they will do once they are moved off their land.
Nearly 4,000 people could be affected, according to an initial assessment from officials in the capital. The assessment also highlights environmental and infrastructure aspects that need further review.
“Many people in the village have stopped farming to protect their land,” one Ba Vi resident called Hang said, declining to give her full name for fear of reprisal.
Residents are keeping watch at the village entrance, and if strangers show up, they will ring the bell and everyone will come out, she said.
“We won’t let strangers come in and carry out the construction work.”
The Sun Group project has a total investment of more than 6.5 trillion dong (S$321.5 million) and will allocate 82% of its total area to greenery and water features, the company said in a statement.
The park will lie entirely outside the boundaries of the protected forest areas of Ba Vi National Park, and is expected to generate jobs for around 1,000 people and attract some six million tourists a year when completed, it said.
Preliminary details were submitted to Hanoi officials in September, and approval was given earlier this week. The project launch, originally slated for Oct 10, was moved up to the afternoon of Oct 9.
The park’s swift development underscores the struggles taking place across one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, where rapid change is being pushed through in pursuit of double-digit growth.
From Hanoi’s Red River residents to the Trump Organization-branded golf resort in Hung Yen province, disputes over land clearance are holding up high-profile projects and exacerbating longstanding tensions over land rights.
To address the delays, the government is overhauling land laws to allow clearance to begin before compensation and resettlement plans are finalised.
The shift is intended to reassure investors and speed up development timelines, but it has raised concerns about safeguards for residents and what happens once their land is seized.
“Land disputes have been Vietnam’s most contentious domestic issue since Doi Moi,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. “Residents may welcome development, but resent losing their homes while developers pocket the gains.”
Unless displaced residents get fair compensation, projects billed as serving the public risk looking like transfers of wealth to a powerful few, he added.
“Proper consultation and valuation reviews also take time, which sits uneasily with a government determined to move fast.”
In Vietnam, the state retains ultimate authority over land management, and local officials have historically set compensation rates based on fixed-pricing frameworks. That has led to frequent complaints about official payouts falling below market rates.
Such grievances have occasionally erupted into protests – in one 2020 clash in Dong Tam commune, four people were killed.
For the residents of Ba Vi, the plans for resettlement have yet to be made clear. The Hanoi authorities have said full input will be sought from the local community.
Many have lived in the area since 1966 in response to the government’s call to cultivate new land, said Hang. “A family just finished building their house last month. They saved up 1.4 billion dong to build their home and now they are just sitting together crying.” - Bloomberg
