Under a new decision issued by the HCM City People’s Committee, parts of many local roads and pavements can be leased for business activities such as cultural events, stalls and parking lots.
However, after being leased the pavement sections must ensure at least 1.50 metres for pedestrians. Meanwhile, roads must ensure at least two one-way lanes for cars.
The HCM City Department of Transport has been assigned to co-operate with the Finance Department and concerned agencies to build temporary road and pavement use fees to be submitted to the municipal People's Committee for consideration.
The HCM City Department of Transport proposed the fees to hire each square metre of pavement at between VND20,000 - 100,000 per month; meanwhile the fees for leasing roads is at between VND50,000 - 350,000 per month, depending on different areas.
According to the Department of Transport, HCM City is now home to around 600 roads which are nine metres wide. If they are leased as parking lots in line with regulations, the city will collect total fees of VND550 billion (USD23.41 million) per year.
Currently, 1,143 local roads have a minimum pavement width of three metres. Leasing these pavements for commercial purposes can give the city a total of VND971 billion annually.
