The operator of My Dinh National Stadium has been blamed for the unsightly chaos caused by ill-conceived revenue-earning services surrounding the showpiece sports ground.
“Pho co” restaurant nearby to Stand D
Disorder
The construction of the My Dinh National Stadium began in 2001 on a 247-hectare area in Me Tri and My Dinh Communes in Tu Liem District.
Apart from main completed works, several other works under the second phase of the project including an air-conditioned swimming pool, a velodrome, a lean-to sporting events hall, a tennis centre, and sports area for disabled people that have all not yet been built.
Nguyen Dinh Toan, a local Tu Liem District’s Me Tri Commune, said, “The whole of Le Quang Dao and Le Duc Tho Streets are mess due to nearby construction projects and concrete production, affecting the surrounding environment.”
Toan noted that the disorder caused by restaurants, cafes, furniture marts and auto garages around the stadium had underlined the mess and lack of attention paid to the second stage of the development.
An international standard stadium should not only include sporting event hall but has well-organised supporting services like accommodation for athletes, health centre, restaurants, souvenir shops, museum, and shopping hall. However, such works have not yet been built around the stadium.
Near to the stadium’s Stand A is a badly constructed restaurant. Inside the 14-hectare indoor area, some people have hired land for golf and mini football ground development as well as two concrete production stations.
Meanwhile, most of 9.8-hectare outdoor area has been used for car parking and to grow grass. Thousands of square metres in front of My Dinh Square has been taken over to sell artificial trees and stones as well as several other unofficial services.
The My Dinh Underwater Sports Palace hasn’t done much better, with some rooms turned into classrooms for the Newton International School.
Mini football ground and car parking lots surround the stadium
Policies
According to the Government’s Notice 42 dated March 3, 2011, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had allowed the piloting of joint ventures on the land around My Dinh National Stadium.
As a result, since June 2011 the ministry approved pilot projects to build a general sport service and shopping centre, Vietnam-Japan culture exchange complex, and My Dinh service and shopping centre while ensuring the stadium continued to be used uninterrupted.
On September 22, 2011 the Ministry of Finance sent an official document to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to use three land lots around the stadium to realise those plans.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on January 12, 2012 granted financial autonomy to the stadium's operator between 2012 and 2014.
Vu Thi Thu Huong, Deputy Director of the stadium said before they were granted financial autonomy, the government had to spend from VND15-VND20 billion (USD719,079-USD958,772) on maintenance annually. After receiving the autonomy, the operator had raked in VND30 billion (USD1.43 million) from their newly developed services in the first nine months of the year.
Of the services, they will end the contract to lease land inside the stadium for concrete production by December 31 due to the environmental pollution caused, Huong noted.
“We have not yet had enough time to complete support works and develop standard services around the stadium as we’ve only been granted financial autonomy for nearly a year. We will review our works in order to correct any shortcomings,” she added.
