Project behind schedule, Quảng Ngãi revokes 337ha

Quảng Ngãi Province’s People’s Committee has decided to revoke 337ha of land, part of a project to build the Guang Lian Dung Quất Steel Factory, located in Bình Thuận Commune.

Cows graze in the land to build the Guang Lian Dung Quất Steel Factory in Bình Thuận Commune. - Photo news.zing.vn

The land was being withdrawn because the project was behind schedule by several years, the Tuổi trẻ (Youth) newspaper reported.

Lê Văn Dũng, the deputy director of the Dung Quất Economic Zone Management Board, said the revoked land would be handed over to the board to manage in accordance with the current regulations.

The committee assigned the provincial Natural Resources and Environment Department to directly withdraw the land and amend the certificate of land-use rights, Dũng said.

The project to build the Guang Lian Dung Quất Steel Factory was given the green light in 2006, with an initial investment of over US$1 billion by the Tycoons Group (Taiwan). At the time, E-United Group (Taiwan) collaborated with Tycoons and raised the capital to $3 billion. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in October 2007, however, till today, construction has still not begun.

Early in 2012, JFE -- the second-largest steel producer in Japan - partnered with E-United Group and contributed capital to the now $4.5 billion project in the Dung Quất Economic Zone. In 2014, however, JFE decided to withdraw from the project.

In March, 2016, following the committee’s inspection of the project, the project’s investor again submitted a proposal with an investment of $2.2 billion. However, the committee decided to withdraw the land since the investor had violated Land Law 2013.