Heat is on land use violations

Those who seriously violate land use regulations will be prosecuted,” said Pham Khoi Nguyen, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE).

“Between now and the year’s end, we will continue combining with the Government Inspectorate, the ministries of National Defense and Public Security and provincial and municipal people’s committees to launch big inspection groups to inspect the use and management of public land in many provinces and cities nationwide, including Hanoi, Haiphong, Danang, Can Tho, Khanh Hoa, Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City,” Nguyen said.
He said, in 2011, another four big land inspections would be made in Haiphong, Danang, Khanh Hoa, Binh Duong and Can Tho.

According to the MoNRE, the trouble over public land use at state-owned units was a long standing problem in Vietnam and its roots mainly lied in the state’s lax management systems, in which the state easily hands land over to state-owned units, but fails to withdraw it when it is misused or ineffectively used.

Over the past four years, the government has promulgated seven decrees and regulations requesting relevant agencies and local authorities to check for illegal use of public land and houses.

Nearly 144,500 agencies and organisations nationwide are being leased and allocated with 7.8 million hectares of public land lots free of charge. Of which, 9 per cent of the agencies and organisations are found to be misusing nearly 30,000ha.

Last year, Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee reported that local state-owned enterprises possessed more than 6.3 million square metres of public land but had failed to make best use of it. Nearly four million square metres of which had not been used effectively, and 140,000 square metres had been left fallow.

For example, five state-owned enterprises were found to be holding vast tracts of land in the city, including Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Corporation, Electricity of Vietnam, Vietnam Southern Food Corporation, Gia Dinh Textiles and Garments Corporation and the Saigon Real Estate Company, which were using the land ineffectively.

In 2008, the city withdrew more than 580,000 square metres of public land used for wrong purposes. It was intended for building parks, schools and hospitals. “The city will confiscate another 40 large land lots in this year,” Nguyen said.

In May 2009, Hanoi’s authorities inspected some 8,355 public land sites within the city area and reclaimed 104 plots owned by state-owned enterprises. For example, Hanoi Agricultural Products Production and Export-Import Company topped the list with 50 misused land lots, followed by the Hanoi Food One Member State Company with 20 misused land lots.

Most land plots were extremely valuable because of their prime locations in the city.

Nguyen said Hanoi would confiscate at least 32,500 square metres misused and infectively used by 135 enterprises and agencies in this year.
Nguyen said these land areas would be put up to auction soon.

By Thanh Tung