A MEMORY OF "Basic Construction Management Committee"
Colonel BUI VIET DUNG
Head of the Ba Dinh Square Management Board
In the early days of its establishment, the collective working and dining facilities of the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum High Command faced numerous challenges. The High Command offices operated in cramped quarters at No. 1, Ong Ich Khiem Street, Ba Dinh, Hanoi. In the afternoons, after sports activities, officers and soldiers would share a communal bath. Some units were located behind the Mausoleum, using temporary military camps left by the construction site of the Mausoleum project. During scorching summer afternoons, the corrugated iron roofs emitted intense heat, becoming a test that strengthened the resilience of the soldiers. However, the honor and pride of living and working at the Mausoleum motivated the officers, workers, and soldiers to quickly stabilize all aspects and focus on excellently fulfilling their special political tasks.
After 8 years of renovations and construction, the living and working spaces had significantly improved. Towards the end of 1983, the unit received Directive No. 300/CT on November 18, 1983, signed by Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers Do Muoi, instructing the clearance of land for the construction of the Ho Chi Minh Museum. The directive's content is explicit, stating: "For collective housing, offices, and warehouses of the Board responsible for managing Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Ba Dinh Square, and the Da Minh area (which require renovation to serve additional functions), the Ministry of Construction is tasked with initiating procedures to seek investment capital from the State. The Ministry will also handle the design and construction in accordance with the Museum's construction timeline. The Board responsible for managing Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Ba Dinh Square is responsible for proposing usage requirements, applying for land allocation, and coordinating with the schedule for relocation." Simultaneously, the Ministry of Construction is designated to supervise the construction of the rear area, meeting specific technical needs such as a warehouse, factory, garage for special vehicles, three garages for trucks and cars, and a four-story administration building in the Hao Nam area, O Cho Dua ward, Dong Da district, covering an area of 1.3 hectares. This construction is intended to compensate the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum High Command.
The clearance for the Ho Chi Minh Museum construction was urgent to meet the deadline for the 100th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birth on May 19, 1990. However, the land clearance in the Hao Nam area faced obstacles. The agricultural cooperative in Hao Nam did not agree to hand over the land as it was a vital source of livelihood for local residents. The cooperative demanded that if the land was transferred, the unit must provide employment for at least 50 local residents. Due to these difficulties, from 1984 to 1987, the Ministry of Construction and the Construction Management Board of the Ho Chi Minh Museum could not build the technical and logistics area as planned.
Stabilizing the accommodation for the military became imperative during this time. The Standing Committee, Party Committee and High Command had various strategies and solutions to address this issue, leading to the establishment of a temporary Basic Construction Management Board in December 1986. Initially, the board consisted of three members: Lieutenant Colonel, Civil Engineer Tran Quoc Dan, Head of Unit 295 – Head of Board; Senior Lieutenant, Civil Engineer Bui Viet Dung, Head of the Supply Base - Deputy Head of Board; and Senior Lieutenant, Civil Engineer Hoang Cao Thang - Technical Assistant.
The board immediately gained the attention and guidance of the unit's leaders, particularly from Comrade Nguyen Van Tuong, the Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff. The first task of the Construction Management Board was to take over and manage the construction of the technical and logistics area in Hao Nam.
Despite the challenging start, the board promptly accepted and studied the decisions of the Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers and the technical design plans for the Hao Nam technical and logistics area from the Construction Management Board of the Ho Chi Minh Museum Construction Management Board with a sense of urgency. Each member of the board played a role in understanding the situation and simultaneously mobilizing and persuading the local cooperative leaders to support and assist the unit. The efforts of the board were rewarded when the Hao Nam cooperative agreed to the land transfer, subject to the unit's commitment to providing employment for the local residents, a condition that had been an obstacle for the past four years.
Simultaneously, the entire construction project of the Ho Chi Minh Museum processed urgently and energetically, bringing the completion of the clearance of the land behind the Mausoleum closer. The next challenge was to ensure accommodation for the units, primarily Unit 195, Unit 295, and Unit 275, the main forces of the High Command. The construction of the Hao Nam technical and logistics area was a crucial step forward.
After the death of Major General Luong Soan in June 1987, Nguyen Van Tuong was entrusted with the command. He continued to guide and delegate tasks, emphasizing the importance of securing land in the Hanoi area for the unit's needs. In his role as the unit's leader, he proceeded to provide guidance and task assignments, stating, "The Basic Construction Management Board supervising foundational construction projects is tasked with offering advice and assistance to the High Command in coordinating and applying for approximately 2 hectares of land in the Hanoi area. The land could be located in multiple locations, but it should be in close proximity to the unit for convenient management, command, and operation of the project.”
Finding suitable real estate was a daunting task, but the board understood the significance of this directive from the Party Committee and the High Command.
Initially, they approached the Ngoc Ha Vegetable Cooperative, which had a collective family residence in Dai Yen, but the land did not meet the requirements. They then tried the Thanh Cong Cooperative (which had provided land in 1983 for the K8 family residence), but only small, insignificant plots were available.
The journey led them to the western part of the city. In the Cong Vi area, there were many large ponds, but it was unclear which ward managed the area. After days of investigation, the necessary information was obtained, and it was confirmed that the vegetable and flower Cooperative Cong Vi owned the ponds. Concerns arose about potential complications due to the cooperative's involvement in agriculture. However, after contacting the cooperative leadership, it was evident that the area met the unit's requirements.
The board established a plan for the land acquisition process. Initially, they reported their findings and received high praise from the Commander. He directed the board to invite the cooperative leaders to visit the Mausoleum and the unit for direct discussions. Despite being a brief meeting, the cooperative leaders expressed high agreement with the compensation and land transfer plan, without the requirement to provide jobs for the residents, similar to the situation in Hao Nam. With the successful initial steps, the board urgently prepared the necessary documents and economic-technical justifications to request land allocation from the city of Hanoi and budget approval from the Council of Ministers for the construction investment.
In the summer of 1987, the board invited Nguyen Quyet Chi, a specialist from the Office of the Council of Ministers (currently the Head of the Government Office), to survey the area. The truck took us from Kim Ma street, turning right towards a recently leveled plot of land allocated for the Soviet Embassy to construct the Center for Cultural, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation Research (currently situated in the Japanese Embassy area and Ngoc Khanh parking lot). The vehicle came to a stop at the designated location. Walking on the warm sand, I briefed Mr. Chi about the two land locations that the unit intended to apply for. Observing the two expansive lakes, Mr. Chi jokingly remarked, "Is the High Command asking for a fish release?" The entire group burst into laughter, understanding that he wholeheartedly supported the idea.
After over a year of closely coordinating with the Urban Planning Department and the Basic Construction Management Committee of Hanoi and receiving support from architect Truong Tung, who was then the Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee and Deputy Head of the Mausoleum Management Board, the board completed the land clearance and technical and economic justifications. The Chairman of the Council of Ministers approved it, and the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee decided to allocate two land plots, X1 and X2 in Cong Vi, with an area of over 13,000 square meters for the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum High Command.
After four years of diligent construction, from 1988 to 1991, the Hao Nam technical and logistics area was completed. The warehouses, workshops, garages, petrol stations, transformer stations, and the management and operations center were all impressive, timely facilities to serve the unit's activities. The X1 and X2 areas in Cong Vi were also completed by 1992. The family guesthouses, dormitories, guesthouses, and collective residences with a total construction area of tens of thousands of square meters were promptly prepared to accommodate Unit 195, Unit 295, and other personnel, contributing to the implementation of political missions. Simultaneously, the facilities welcomed 54 families of officers and staff into the collective residential area.
With the correct and timely guidance from the Party Committee of Unit 969, the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum High Command, and the support of the Hanoi People's Committee, within six years (from 1987 to 1992), the unit had established technical facilities to serve its special political mission. The stable location served as a base for building military camps and providing accommodations for the soldiers, progressively enhancing the living conditions and contributing to the resolution of policies to stabilize the rear for the unit's officers, staff, and workers.
In December 1992, the Basic Construction Management Board successfully completed its mission. The board members were reassigned to new tasks in different units. Although the years have passed, the memories of the journey to find land in the heart of Hanoi remain vivid in my mind, especially the figure of Commander - Major General Nguyen Van Tuong.
Vice President Truong My Hoa conferred the title of "Hero of the People's Armed Forces in the Renewal Period" upon President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum High Command (January 24, 2005)
The Head of the Management Board of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Director of the Moscow Biomedical Research Center signed a collaborative protocol on the preparation of a special solution in Vietnam (Moscow, June 04, 2003).
In March 2004, Russian medical experts, alongside Vietnamese officials and doctors, conducted the preparation of a special solution for the first time in Vietnam.
Workers from Unit 195 monitored technical parameters at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum construction site.
Officials and workers from Unit 595 performed maintenance on air conditioning units within the mausoleum project.
Staff from Unit 275 were on duty to manage the memorial ceremonies during the visitation to President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
