20 years of unresolved disputes make people angry

“Living is hard, dying is even harder”

At the end of April 2018, Nghe An Newspaper received a petition from the collective of cadres and people of Hamlet 8, Quynh Lam Commune, Quynh Luu District. The petition stated that Hamlet 8 has a plot of land planned as a cemetery, but this land has been and is being disputed between Hamlet 8 and the production complex under the name of Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong.

The land is in dispute. Photo: Phuong Thao

Veteran Dang Ngoc Ngoan (70 years old) continued, "In the past, we went to war without fear of death, all for today, but now in peacetime, we have spent decades demanding cemetery land, dying without a place to be buried, living is miserable, dying is even more miserable." Dozens of people in Hamlet 8 were then in an uproar, expressing their indignation, they affirmed that it was cemetery land that Mr. Cuong's group had encroached on to make forest land.

Field research shows that the disputed land belongs to Tray forest area, Quynh Lam commune, and is currently overlapping in use (burying the dead and planting trees). Previously, in 1993, in this Tray forest area, the group represented by Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong as the owner was assigned forest land by the People's Committee of Quynh Luu district according to Decision No. 259 dated December 4, 1993 with an area of ​​3 hectares. The conflict arose after Mr. Cuong's forest group planted trees and when someone died, the people of hamlet 8 also organized a burial here.

The two questions that arise are: why is there no clear distinction between the land area assigned to Mr. Cuong's complex and the burial area? Was the cemetery formed before or after the land was assigned to Mr. Cuong's complex? Both of these questions have been determined by the authorities from the district to the commune, but the absurd thing is that, despite clearly understanding the cause of the incident, the solution to resolve it has been deadlocked for more than 20 years.

Urgent dispute resolution

First of all, regarding whether the cemetery existed before or after the forest land was allocated, all information from witnesses and remaining documents confirm that the cemetery was formed before 1993 - the time of allocation of forest land to Mr. Cuong's group. In the working minutes dated August 23, 1999, including Quynh Luu Forest Protection Department officials, Quynh Lam commune officials and Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong - the owner of the forest land register, it was clearly stated that "in fact, the burial took place before the forest land register was allocated", however, Mr. Cuong did not agree with the above conclusion.

Clash at a funeral between forest owners and locals. Photo: Archive.

On March 17, 2014, the People's Council of Quynh Luu district established a survey team to resolve the land dispute of cemetery in hamlet 8, led by Ms. Le Thi Thanh Thuy - Vice Chairman of the People's Council of the district. The team then concluded that "cemetery land in hamlet 8 existed before".

On August 10, 2017, the People's Committee of Quynh Lam commune continued to hold a meeting of the Commune Land Advisory Council to verify the origin of the cemetery land in Hamlet 8. The review results were as follows: Before 1993, there were burials in the disputed area, the cemetery in Hamlet 8 existed before the time the State allocated land and forests to households. Then, on September 27, 2017, the People's Committee of the commune reported to the People's Committee of Quynh Luu district about the dispute and also affirmed that "the cemetery land in Hamlet 8 belongs to Plot No. 337, Map Sheet No. 1 (forestry map), area 7,249m2, the cemetery in Hamlet 8 was formed here before 1993".

However, it is worth mentioning that in Mr. Cuong's forest register issued in 1993, the boundary was not clearly shown but only the total land area was recorded as 3 hectares. Meanwhile, in 2005, the cemetery land of Hamlet 8 was planned with an area of ​​0.7429 hectares to the northwest of Mr. Cuong's forest land according to Map Sheet No. 1, Land Plot No. 337, but the measurement and planning area of ​​the cemetery was not in the correct location as before (The cemetery area was formed at the foot of Tray hill but was mistakenly marked on the top of the hill).

Therefore, the boundary between Mr. Cuong's forest land and the cemetery land of Hamlet 8 cannot be determined, causing disputes. The people of Hamlet 8 believe that the cemetery land is outside the forestry land assigned to Mr. Cuong's group, while Mr. Cuong still affirms that the land assigned by the District People's Committee to the group includes the current cemetery land.

The conflict became more tense when in 2005, based on field measurements, the forestry map clearly showed that Mr. Cuong's forest land area was 4.32 hectares, an increase of 1.32 hectares compared to 1993.

Discussing this issue with the leaders of Quynh Lam Commune People's Committee, Mr. Ho Ngoc Truong - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee admitted that the cause of the dispute was due to the previous government's mistake in measuring and demarcating the land area. "The incident happened more than 20 years ago, if it had been resolved from the beginning, it would not have become as complicated as it is now. The commune-level government has also organized mediation many times but failed, the two sides could not reach an agreement to redefine the boundary", Mr. Truong said and informed that the Commune People's Committee had requested both sides to maintain the status quo, but the forest owner still planted trees, and the people of Hamlet 8 still had burial needs, causing conflicts to occur many times, affecting security and order in the area.

Current status of land use overlap, burial of the dead and interwoven forest planting. Photo: Phuong Thao.

It is known that on December 14, 2017, Chairman of Quynh Luu District People's Committee, Mr. Hoang Danh Lai, held a meeting to discuss measures to resolve the dispute. Concluding the meeting, the Chairman of the District People's Committee requested the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to direct the People's Committee of Quynh Lam Commune in the process of measuring, marking, re-verifying the boundaries of the above land plot, clearly defining the boundaries of overlapping and non-overlapping areas, cemetery planning, etc. to serve as a basis for resolving the case. After more than 4 months since the direction of the Chairman of the District People's Committee, things have not progressed.

Responding to this issue, Mr. Dao Xuan Son - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quynh Luu district explained: "Up to this point, everything has not been able to proceed because when we went to the field to work, members of Mr. Cuong's forest team harassed and did not cooperate. In the future, we will ask for the opinion of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment on the process of handling the case.

In the immediate future, the commune is required to find a new cemetery planning location to ensure the burial needs of the people until the dispute is resolved. Thus, after more than two decades, a case has been dragging on and the local government has yet to come up with a solution, causing hundreds of households in Hamlet 8, Quynh Lam Commune to live in anxiety for many years "without a place to be buried when they die". Clashes have occurred many times, which is the obvious consequence of the government's failure to promptly correct the mistake.

It is time to take drastic action to immediately end the dispute to avoid unnecessary consequences.