VietNamNet Bridge – Twenty-three people, almost all of them officials, are on trial for wrongdoing related to land management in Long Xuyen City in the Mekong Delta.

Twenty-three people, almost all of them officials, are on trial for wrongdoing related to land management in Long Xuyen City in the Mekong Delta.

One businessman and 22 provincial officials have been charged with "violating regulations on land use," "violating regulations on land management," and "irresponsibility causing serious consequences" between 2004 and 2011.

They include Ho Dang Chien and Huynh Giang Son, deputy chairmen of the city People's Committee; Bui Phuoc Dung, director of the land registration office; Nguyen Thi Tu, head of the Division of Natural Resources and Environment; Tran Thien Tich, chairman of the Party Committee's personnel division; and Vo Duy Cuong, chairman of the Party Committee's inspection division.

According to prosecutors, between 1996 and mid-2011, developers built 60 residential areas covering 355,035 square metres in the city. Most of them were however built in areas not zoned and approved by authorities and even on agricultural lands that were later turned into non-agricultural lands.

The prosecutors said these violations, abetted by the officials, consigned Long Xuyen's long-term plans to the scrap heap and had an adverse impact on investment and the development of the city.

The trial, which began on Monday, will conclude on September 4.

Source: VNS