Busted illegal Phu Quoc property owners dismantle villas

Le Quoc Anh, deputy chairman of the southern province, said on Tuesday that seven owners of the villas illegally built on Phu Quoc public land have had workers demolish the buildings. Some of the villas had yet to be completed before they were destroyed.

An owner said he had spent VND5 billion ($210,770) to buy a Phu Quoc land plot and build a villa on it but did not know that the construction was illegal. After authorities requested the villa be dismantled, he hired workers for dozens of millions of Vietnamese dong to demolish the villa and salvage usable materials.

So far, over 20 villas out of 79 that were illegally built have been dismantled along with their water and electrical systems, authorities said. At least 14 villa owners have also been fined.

The 79 illegally built villas, each one spanning 200-350 m2, occupied 19 ha of public land starting five years ago, when there was a land rush on Phu Quoc. Authorities at the time had summoned violators to discuss the matter, but many ignored the requests and closed down the villas quietly for months.

In 2022, the Kien Giang People’s Committee formed a team to deal with violations regarding public and forest land. So far, the team has dealt with and seized around 140 ha of forest land that had been illegally occupied. Over 40 structures that were illegally built at Phu Quoc sea conservation areas, spanning 40,000 ha, have also been dismantled.