The Government Inspectorate has released the conclusion about the management and use of land, investment and construction in Ninh Thuan province, pointing out breaches related to planning and licensing of renewable energy projects in the locality.

The Ninh Thuan provincial People’s Committee agreed to build solar power projects on land areas which have been reserved for irrigation works belonging to the Tan My irrigation system.

Tan My irrigation project, located in Bac Ai district, is responsible for irrigating 7,480 hectares. The project is under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and has been approved as a part of the irrigation system development plan to adapt to climate change in Ninh Thuan by 2030.

However, a solar power plant – Thien Tan Solar – has been built on area reserved for the irrigation work. The 1,000MWp power plant covers an area of 1,400 hectares with the total investment capital of VND1.248 trillion. The overlap has affected the water supply for irrigating crop fields.

Three other solar power projects, developed by Xuan Thien Thuan Bac JSC, Trung Nam Solar Power JSC and CMX Renewable Energy Vietnam, have also been found overlapping irrigation works in the same province.

The solar power plant covers an area of 264 hectares, including 100 hectares of TM-22 irrigation work. The Xuan Thien Thuan Bac plant covers an area of 169 hectares, including 100 hectares allocated for TM-24 irrigation work (the total area for this work is 248 hectares).

According to the Government Inspectorate, the provincial authorities granted licenses to many solar power projects with generation capacity higher than transmission capacity. 

Other projects are overlapping the land area reserved for irrigation works. 

The inspectors concluded that the Ninh Thuan provincial People’s Committee didn’t properly take responsibility for protecting irrigation works, and unreasonably changed the land use purpose from irrigation land to power development land. The provincial People's Committee approved solar power projects that overlapped irrigation planning without consulting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). 

The provincial authorities’ arbitrary adjustment of land use planning for irrigation projects without consultation with MARD violated the Land Law. The behavior of adjusting the land planning at provincial level did not comply with the requirements of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) on clearly explaining the items for area increasing/decreasing; and they inaccurately provided information about land, a violation of the 2013 Land Law. 

According to inspectors, the Ninh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development warned of the inappropriate use of land for the solar power projects, and requested reconsideration of the land use purpose. However, the People's Committee of Ninh Thuan still changed land use purposes and leased the land to power projects.

The provincial Department of Planning and Investment was found reporting the opinions of the agriculture department incompletely, including the opinion about overlapping on the land area allocated to Tan My irrigation system. 

Meanwhile, the provincial Department of Natural Resources and the Environment did not report the overlapping and still asked for the People’s Committee’s permission to lease the land.

The Government Inspectorate has proposed that the PM instruct relevant ministries and branches, and Ninh Thuan People’s Committee to handle the violations and identify individuals’ responsibility for the violations.

The agency has also forwarded all documents about land leasing to implement the four solar power projects built on land reserved for irrigation works to the Ministry of Public Security.

Violations of the Land Law have also been found at two floating solar power projects on Tam Bo and Gia Hoet reservoirs in Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

The Government Inspectorate found violations in investment policies, land lease, and commercial operation acceptance at two large-scale floating solar power projects on two reservoirs in Quang Thanh commune in Chau Duc district.

The provincial People’s Committee agreed on the development of the two projects though the land locations are not suitable to the land use plan of Chau Duc district and the Quang Thanh commune’s planning on new rural area building.

The investors of Tam Bo and Gia Hoet power projects used 7.78 hectares and 8.5 hectares of land, respectively, to build transformer stations, operation houses and transmission lines, though the provincial authorities had not leased the land.

Luong Bang