Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang was bombarded with questions about forced land withdrawal, compensation and land use waste raised by the National Assembly (NA) deputies on Wednesday.



Deputy Bui Thi An of Hanoi questioned the ministry’s progress in solving the forced land revocations that attract much attention from the public, such as the cases in Tien Lang (Haiphong), Van Giang (Hung Yen) and Vu Ban (Nam Dinh).

Quang said after the forced withdrawal of five hectares of land belonging to 166 farming households to serve the Ecopark project in Hung Yen, the ministry had sent a mission to the province to study the case.

“Opinions vary on the case in the mass media, but we have sent a mission there to probe the situation,” said the minister.

However, deputy An found the answer unsatisfactory.

She posed another question: “I would like to know in each land row who’s right and who’s wrong by the laws. If there is nothing confidential, I suggest you publicize the information in the media.”

The minister replied the Prime Minister had come to conclusions on the case in Tien Lang, so he had no time to repeat such conclusions, and invited deputy An for private talks, which he deemed “more appropriate”.

The aforesaid cases are just a minority of the rising number of forced land withdrawals aimed at turning farmland into industrial land or residential land.

Such a situation has led to prolonged complaint and denunciation cases, said Inspector General Huynh Phong Tranh of the Government Inspectorate at the question and answer session on Wednesday.

Over the last four years, some 400,000 people lodge complaints every month and State agencies receive an average 160,000 complaints monthly.

Tranh described the overall picture of the recent four years: “Complaint and denunciation get increasingly complex, critical and chaotic, and there are cases in which people are ready to disobey officers on duty, even threaten public employees to resolve their complaints and denunciations.”

He noted complaints concerning land issues make up 79% in recent months, versus an average 70% in the previous years. The complaints focus on site clearance compensation and resettlement when the State carries out socio-economic development projects.

Deputy Tran Thi Quoc Khanh of Hanoi wondered what if people did not want to receive compensations, but wanted to contribute their land use rights to the projects as stakes.

Unfortunately, Quang did not answer this question, even when Chairman Hung raised it again.

When talking about the complaints against land withdrawal, the minister admitted democracy, publicity and equality were not ensured during land recovery.

Furthermore, compensation prices are still low, and the capability of the staff in charge of site clearance is limited, which are other reasons for the surging volume of complaints and denunciations.

Minister Quang said the negotiation mechanism between investors and people is facing a challenge in compensation prices.

He suggested there should be a mechanism allowing the State to revoke land, and thus the central authority would adjust the relationships between the benefits of the State, of investors and of residents forced to relocate.

SGT