Lesson 1: Commune "hangs" people's files and signs of irregularities

(Baonghean) - Every household wishes to have legal ownership of their land, demonstrated by being granted a Land Use Rights Certificate (LURC). The people of Cat Van commune (Thanh Chuong) are no exception. And out of frustration because after many years of fulfilling their tax and land fee obligations but not being granted a LURC by the government, they submitted a petition to Nghe An Newspaper...

In the petition, the households stated that they were "extremely upset and hopeless with the leaders of Cat Van commune, because after many years of selling residential land to the people, they did not issue Land Use Rights Certificates". Accordingly, from 1995 to now, the commune government has met, considered and issued many plots of land to the people for housing. As people, they only know how to follow the direction of the Commune People's Committee. They wrote applications for approval; carried out procedures to pay for land, contributed to building their hometown; had land officials and leaders of the Commune People's Committee measure the land and set up markers to build houses. After that, they paid land tax every year; paid the fee for applying for Land Use Rights Certificates at least twice, but after more than 10 years, it still has not been implemented. When asked many times, the Commune People's Committee and the Land Administration Department promised and delayed that the commune would be responsible and would carry out all procedures for the people to be granted Land Use Rights Certificates, saying "people should rest assured"...

Most families along Provincial Road 533 through Cat Van commune do not have Land Use Rights Certificates.

Because of the delay of the Cat Van commune government, in the petition, the people doubted the transparency in the land sale review; the collection and use of land money that people had paid. They wrote: The commune announced that anyone who was eligible to be considered by the commune People's Committee to buy land, should meet the chief accountant to complete the deposit procedure. When they arrived, the commune People's Committee and the accountant continued to give the condition: if they wanted to deposit money to buy land, they had to sign a voluntary deposit form to support "hometown construction" first. Anyone who did not comply would not be allowed to deposit money to buy land... The voluntary application was pre-printed, the commune also determined the amount of money for "hometown construction", whoever accepted could deposit money and sign the form. Knowing that there was a "problem", but because of the "thirst" for land, the people were forced to blindly follow this absurd regulation...!.

Coming to Cat Van commune and talking to the people, we understood more clearly their worries and frustrations. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoan (residing in hamlet 6B), in 2000, she lived in hamlet 7. Due to business needs, she rented a kiosk along road 533, in hamlet 6. Some time later, the commune had a policy of selling to people in need, so she submitted an application and the commune considered selling. The land she bought was 10m long along Provincial Road 533, more than 20m deep in hamlet 6B (current residence), she had to pay a land purchase fee and a total of 6,700,000 VND in 2002. After that, the land officer and the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee came directly to measure and allocate the land. Since then, along with many households in the commune, she has paid the annual land tax and fees for the application for the Land Use Rights Certificate, but has not yet received one. Ms. Hoan has directly met with relevant commune officials to ask many times, but the only answer she received was to... wait! Ms. Hoan said: "We do business and really need a red book to mortgage to borrow money from the bank to have capital, but the government keeps "hanging" it, so it is very difficult...".

In the case of Mr. Nguyen Viet Khoa - an officer of the Cat Van Commune Health Station (residing in Hamlet 6A), in 2002, the commune announced that Hamlet 6A had a plan to intermix residential land, and anyone interested could register. At that time, Mr. Khoa and his wife lived with their parents in Hamlet 6B with 2 younger brothers, and needed land to build their own house, so they applied to be considered for purchase. He paid 1,750,000 VND for the "land grant fee" and 10,500,000 VND for "hometown construction" on June 9, 2003 for a 350m2 plot of land. He also paid taxes, fees, measured, and completed all the paperwork, but he has not yet been granted a Land Use Rights Certificate. Mr. Khoa wondered: "Many times when I asked, the commune officials kept talking in circles. Sometimes they said the documents were not standard; sometimes they said the State's policies had changed. Year after year. Or is it because the people's land use fees were not paid into the budget, so they could not issue land use right certificates for the people?"

Ms. Dang Thi Huong - teacher at Cat Van Primary School (residing in Hamlet 6A), Mr. Nguyen Van Nga - postal officer of the commune, Mr. Nguyen Van Binh - 1/4 disabled soldier... shared the same sentiment with Mr. Nguyen Viet Khoa when they thought that there was something wrong in the issuance of the Land Use Right Certificate. For Ms. Dang Thi Huong, to buy a 310m2 plot of land located at Route 2 of Provincial Road 533 in 2003, she had to borrow up to 9,300,000 VND to pay (1,800,000 VND "land fee", 7,500,000 VND "hometown construction fee"). "I have fulfilled my land tax obligations; paid the fee twice to apply for a Land Use Right Certificate but it has not been granted yet. When asked, the commune officials replied that there are hundreds of people with the same need, and they have to complete it to do it all at once. I want to ask, if they do not pay the collected land use fee to the budget, will we be considered for a Land Use Right Certificate?" - Ms. Huong worried.

Among the households we met, Mr. Nguyen Van Luong - Principal of Thanh Son Secondary School was the one who wrote a letter and was later "clarified" by the Cat Van Commune authorities about the delay in issuing Land Use Rights Certificates. According to Official Dispatch No. 75/UBND on responding to a citizen's letter dated July 25, 2014 of the Cat Van Commune People's Committee, during the period from 1995 to June 30, 2004, in this commune, there were 163 households that were considered for residential land but had not yet completed their application for Land Use Rights Certificates. The reason for the "delay" was due to changes in policies in issuing Land Use Rights Certificates. From Decision No. 10/2013/QD-UBND dated January 22, 2013 of the Provincial People's Committee "On granting certificates of land use rights, house ownership rights and other assets attached to land to households and individuals using land in Nghe An province" to Directive 14/2013/CT-UBND dated April 22, 2013 of the Provincial People's Committee "On focusing on directing measures to basically complete the granting of certificates of land use rights and house ownership rights and other assets attached to land in Nghe An province" and then to Decision No. 46/2013/QD-UBND dated August 22, 2013 of the Provincial People's Committee "On promulgating regulations on granting certificates of land use rights, house ownership rights and other assets attached to land to households and individuals who were allocated land without proper authority to build houses before July 1, 2004 in the province".

In Official Dispatch No. 75 of the People's Committee of Cat Van Commune, it stated that because the deadline for submitting documents for the issuance of Land Use Right Certificates in Thanh Chuong District is set for August 2015; because "the system of guiding documents has changed and adjusted"; and because "the commune has a large number" so "it has not been able to complete it yet"; at the same time, it promised that "the People's Committee of the commune will continue to direct the specialized department to complete the procedural documents to request the competent authority to issue Land Use Right Certificates to all households that have not been granted Land Use Right Certificates for the first time in the commune...".

Although the Commune People's Committee responded, like the above households, Mr. Luong felt that there was something wrong with the issuance of Land Use Right Certificates in Cat Van and that it needed to be clarified. "Recently, a delegation of officials from the District Department of Natural Resources and Environment came to work in Thanh Son Commune. I asked and was answered by a leader of the Land Use Right Registration Office: If the land use fee had been fully paid to the treasury, it would have been issued a long time ago. In the case of the teacher, if it had to be implemented according to Decision 46 of the Provincial People's Committee, it means that the land was granted without authority..." - Mr. Luong explained. Regarding his purchase of residential land, Mr. Luong said that he and his wife had been teachers in the mountainous region for nearly 20 years. Returning to their locality, they had no land to live in and had to live at their parents' house. At that time, the province had a policy of giving priority to teachers who had worked for more than 15 years in the mountainous region to buy residential land; The commune had a policy of selling land to the people, so he applied and was approved to buy a plot of land along Provincial Road 533 in 2002.

As a management officer, when buying the land, Mr. Luong was very concerned about the procedures the commune carried out, especially the amount of money set for "hometown construction". "To buy the land I am currently living on, I was required to pay 12 million VND, of which 3/4 was for "hometown construction". At that time, this amount of money was not small. Mr. Luong wondered why the contribution to building the homeland was not allowed for voluntary purchase. However, the commune officials told him straight away that "if you don't pay, you can't buy the land" and insisted that "there is no need to worry, as long as you have land to live on". The whole village, the whole commune, everyone had to do it, so Mr. Luong borrowed money and paid several times. Only when he paid enough money did the commune set up markers. "Although the commune has responded in writing, I am still very worried. If the commune does not pay the land use fee collected from the people into the treasury according to regulations and uses it for other purposes, what should we do? "If the land use rights certificate is suspended, we and future generations will not have the right to own residential land," said Mr. Luong.

Also in Cat Van commune, we met and learned more about some people. In addition to similar things, they were upset and showed receipts for "land fees" and "hometown construction" without the commune government's seal or the account holder's signature, only the cashier and accountant signed sloppily; at the same time, they said that in fact, there were people who bought residential land sold by the commune during the same period but were granted Land Use Rights Certificates....

(To be continued)

Nhat Lan - Dang Cuong