Nha Trang City, Vietnam

Nha Trang City’s authorities have stirred up the public after turning the green light on the four underwater projects. The investors would be allowed to dig the seashore to build their works – dance halls, restaurants, bars, parking lots – covering an area of thousands of square meters which can serve tens of thousands of travelers a day.

In August 2011, Chair of the Khanh Hoa province people’s committee Nguyen Chien Thang released the decision allowing Nha Trang Sao JSC to develop the Nha Trang Sao amusement park.

Ngo Van Dung, Director of Nha Trang Sao Company, said the project has got the investment license to develop the project on the area of 4.41 hectares of seashore land and 5.94 hectares of Nha Trang bay surface area, and that it has got the approval by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The coastal areas near the project have also been allocated to investors who would develop two other projects. Hai Van Nam Company builds a tunnel from Trang Trang Plaza Hotel which crosses Tran Phu road to link to a restaurant under the Tran Phu Beach Park. The underground restaurant, covering an area of 1,500 square meters, has got nearly completed, which would be the place for bars, cafes, fresh water bathroom and art performance stages.

The Bon Mua restaurant project would be situated adjacent to the above said project. The existing Bon Mua restaurant would be removed and replaced by an underground restaurant with an area of 2,000 square meters, which would be reserved for dance hall, bar and karaoke shop.

All the projects would be at the depth of 6-6.5 meters under the sea water level.

The projected business plans have raised a big concern that they would damage the environment and spoil the landscapes.

Dr. Nguyen Tac An, Deputy Chair of the Marine Science Association, has warned that the projects may hurt the national landscapes.

“In order to develop the business projects, the investors would have to exploit the nature, which would have big impacts to the nature and the living environment,” An said, adding that it’s still unclear about the pros and cons of the projects.

“When the skin is hurt, the body would get weaker. Digging the sea in the Nha Trang Bay’s national landscape would bring similar consequences,” he added.

Architect Nguyen Van Loc from the Khanh Hoa provincial construction department, has warned that the projects may damage the architecture space of the Nha Trang Bay.

“I protest the digging of the sea to build underwater restaurants,” he said violently.

“There are so many good places in Nha Trang City, suitable for underground water. Why do they need to be located on the seashore?” he questioned, emphasizing that the projects would spoil the architecture space of the Nha Trang Bay, and severely affect the environment, sooner or later.

Analysts have laughed scornfully at the promise by the investors to grow plants and re-create a natural green environment for the coastal areas after the projects get completed. They said that no one can grow plants on reinforced concrete foundation.

Le Thanh Xuan, Deputy Chair of the Yersin Fan Club, while emphasizing that the Nha Trang coast is the asset of people, said that he protests against the project which aims to “cut the Nha Trang coasts into small pieces to sell to companies for profit.”

Thien Nhien

(VietNamNet Bridge)