The provincial government recently convened a meeting of the Capital Verification Committee for the (오라) Ora Tourism Complex development. There are growing questions about the role and effectiveness of the group that is charged with identifying and verifying the sources of funding for the project. Joseph Kim explains.

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Capital Verification Committee meets for first time in 9 months

The Capital Verification Committee meeting was held last week for the Ora Tourism Complex.

It has been nine months since its latest meeting in March, 2018.

Recording
Park Sang-moon / Chair, Capital Verification Committee
This committee will discuss and work toward positive decisions regarding the facets of the Ora Tourism Complex that worry area residents, the provincial council, and the local government.
씽크)박상문 오라관광단지 자본검증위원장
도민들이 걱정하는, 도의회, 행정당국에서 고민하고 있는 부분에 대해 검증위원회에서 많은 위원들과 같이 논의하고 좋은 방향으로 결정지을 수 있도록...

However, the results of the committee are disappointing to residents.

The committee has reviewed documents submitted by the Ora Tourism Complex developer for a year, but it was evaluated that the committee failed to identify the capital.

The committee agreed that if the developer makes a deposit into an account owned by the province by June this year, the committee will write up its final conclusion on the verification work.

The committee is asking for a deposit of 337.3 billion won.

It’s ten percent of the development cost of 5.218 trillion won after subtracting 1.8 trillion won of revenue generated by selling off parts of the tourism complex land.

This could mean that if the developer pays a portion of the development expenses to the province, the committee would give the developer the green light.

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More questioning committee’s role

The committee was formed to verify the development project, financial eligibility, and financial supply plan.

But questions are raised on the roles of the committee.

In addition, the province’s initial plan to hire an agency to evaluate the credit of the developer has been canceled.

There has been a controversy over the validity and effectiveness of the committee since its foundation.

[Reporter] Joseph Kim
[Camera] Kim Seung-cheol

Meanwhile, the construction of the (오라) Ora Tourism Complex has been suspended since the motion regarding the environmental impact of the development was submitted to the provincial council in March 2017.

Joseph Kim, KCTV