Minister pledges closer land management

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang, photo source VOV

He made the pledge at an online question-and-answer session in Hanoi on August 20 as part of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee’s 20 th session. 

Deputy Nguyen Thanh Thuy from the central province of Binh Dinh claimed that legal documents about land use rights lack unity, hindering the issuance of certificates. 

Le Viet Truong from the NA Committee for National Defence and Security said the issuance of land use rights certificates for defence and security purposes was very slow. He also declared his doubts over the possibility that it would be completed on time. 

According to Quang’s report, the number of certificates issued by the end of June stood at 36 million for 20.12 million hectares, equivalent to 83.2 percent of the total land, and more than 3.5 million certificates for over 2.2 million hectares of land are on the waiting list. 

The report stated that these are located across 18 provinces, some of which are struggling to find room in their budget for the issuance process. 

“We are also worried about the speed of issuance. However, if localities do not do their job on time then the ministry willalso fail to meet the deadline,” the minister said. 

Refering to the settlement of land-related legal cases, Quang said his ministry has dealt with 77 out of 528 cases. 

Clarifying cases where the wrong issuance of licences in the field of mineral exploitation mangement subsequently led to huge environmental damage, he said 957 cases have been uncovered so far. 

The Government asked nine provinces to revoke wrong licences. 10 provinces were requested to adjust planning while 11 other localities will temporarily halt the issuance to areas without valid information about mineral reserves, he said, adding that all violated provinces must report the situation to the Government by November 30 at the latest. 

Admiting that the State management in the environment field has remained lax over the past time, with serious environmental pollution caused by firms’ waste discharges, Minister Quang pledged to conduct regular inspection in the time to come. 

At the same time, more automatic environment monitoring stations will be installed and operate around the clock, he said. 

He was also asked by NA Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan to hand over a list of localities discovered to have incorrectly issued exploitation licences to the NA so that the deputies could increase their supervision. 

Concluding the session, NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung urged the ministry to tighten measures to protect the country’s environment and its natural and mineral resources.