Lesson 6: Don't let yourself be left behind.

(Baonghean)These days, along National Highway 1A passing through Nghe An province, construction is underway everywhere. Almost the entire length of the route has seen the demolition of existing structures. In the districts of Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, Nghi Loc, and Vinh City, local government officials from the district to the grassroots level are closely monitoring the sites, both educating and persuading households and directing functional forces to expedite land clearance along the route. At this point, the handover of land in localities through which National Highway 1A passes is nearing completion. However, in Hoang Mai town, construction only began on the afternoon of April 9th ​​at the points where the authorities had previously handed over the land to the construction unit…

Compared to other localities in the province through which National Highway 1A passes, Hoang Mai Town was initially one of the units that handed over the best amount of land. However, at points that were previously thought to be favorable for land clearance, they have now become difficult "bottlenecks" to resolve.

Abandoned shacks were illegally constructed on non-agricultural land in Block 10, Quynh Thien Ward (Hoang Mai Town).

Is it because Hoang Mai is a newly established town, less than a year old, and therefore has more pressing matters to attend to? Or is it because, right from its inception, the town suffered heavy damage from two historic floods, leading officials and some residents to believe that overcoming the difficulties caused by the floods is the most important thing? It could also be that, working under conditions lacking adequate infrastructure, Party and government officials have to "march and line up simultaneously," resulting in a lack of coordination and synergy in directing, managing, and implementing political tasks?

Therefore, at the time the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee inspected the site, while construction was progressing rapidly along the entire route, with local leaders practically living and working on the road, the section through Hoang Mai Town was quiet. In a conversation with the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Mr. Phung Quang Tuyen, Deputy Director of BOT and representative of the investor, couldn't hide his concern: "In reality, we have only been handed over 9.9 km out of 14.4 km of the route. Of that, on a section of only 3.4 km, there are already 5 obstacles, so we are forced to work in a piecemeal fashion. Therefore, asphalt paving on the sections where construction has been completed cannot proceed."

Explaining this issue, Mr. Le Sy Chien - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee and Chairman of the Compensation, Support and Resettlement Council of Hoang Mai Town - stated that the reason Hoang Mai has not yet seen a "massive" resettlement process is due to objective reasons. For example, regarding the land area to be allocated for resettlement, the Compensation and Land Clearance Council has not yet received the average price. Regarding the obstacles caused by residents questioning the compensation price for land and assets on the land, this is due to deliberate resistance from the residents, requiring a plan to collectively protect the construction. Other obstacles include the case of 18 households illegally building on non-agricultural land, or 22 households in Block 10 related to the unauthorized land allocation by Trung Do brick factory, lacking documentation proving payment of land use fees, and now demanding compensation for land and assets on the land, which is contrary to regulations; the authorities plan to address this later...

Handwritten land transfer documents with no legal validity from households in Block 10, Quynh Thien Ward - Hoang Mai Town (left photo) and receipts for non-agricultural land use tax payments dated from 2012.

The root cause of these problems is partly due to historical factors. According to Mr. Pham Van Hao, Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Hoang Mai Town: In 2009 (when it was under the administrative management of Quynh Luu District), when people illegally built shacks on non-agricultural land in Block 10, Quynh Thien Ward, with the aim of receiving compensation, the authorities requested a halt to the construction. In fact, these shacks have been abandoned and dilapidated ever since. Now, with the implementation of the National Highway 1A upgrade and expansion project, the State has flexibly applied the policy (Clause 2, Article 18 of Decision 04 of the Provincial People's Committee) to compensate and support 50% of the assets on the land for the households. However, they still disagree with this level of support. Speaking to us, Ms. Dau Thi Kieu – one of the people whose stalls were built illegally – said: “My purpose at the time was to build a stall for business, and I had no idea there was a project to upgrade and expand National Highway 1A running through the area.”

However, when information emerged that those who built houses on this land would be granted residential land, some surrounding households also rushed to build similar structures. First of all, building shacks on non-agricultural land managed by the State is a violation of the law, not to mention that some households deliberately built shacks with the "purpose" of profiting, causing difficulties and hindering the construction of national projects, and need to be dealt with according to the law. Therefore, if the households still do not understand after the dissemination of information and the "flexible" application of some support policies as stipulated, the functional forces need to resolutely proceed with dismantling, reclaiming the land, and protecting the construction. When implementing a plan to protect the construction, it is necessary to reconsider: Should we "flexibly" apply compensation and support policies to these households that deliberately make demands contrary to regulations?

Among these households, there are also 6 households of residents from Hamlet 10 - Quynh Loc (formerly Quynh Luu) who migrated here from 1987 onwards, but now they cannot produce any documents proving the origin of their land. Many households even moved here later through buying and selling, transferring land through multiple owners, with only handwritten documents. According to Ms. Ho Thi Lan, one of the people who claims to be the first to live in this area, she said: “We have lived here for four generations without being under the administrative management of any locality. Only in the last two years has the Quynh Thien government started collecting non-agricultural land tax. All administrative procedures, such as birth certificates for our children and grandchildren, are handled by Quynh Loc commune. We hope the State will consider and verify the origin of the land to provide reasonable compensation, rather than the current compensation of 55,000 VND/m².”²"Then it's impossible to build new on the remaining land."

According to Mr. Pham Van Hao: "In addition to compensation and support for non-agricultural land, the Compensation and Support Council of the town also applies a policy of providing an additional support of 200,000 VND/m²."²Plus 55,000 VND/m2 for non-agricultural land, which is equivalent to the compensation support based on the land price framework for garden land. In addition, we advised these six households on the procedures to prove their long-term residence here in order to receive support and be relocated to resettlement areas.” Thus, the six households who have “illegally” settled and lived “unclaimed” in Quynh Thien ward for a long time need to clearly understand: They have violated laws on residence and land use. Furthermore, during their illegal residence in this area, they have not fully fulfilled their civic duties as stipulated by law, such as paying taxes and fees, registering births, and obtaining certifications…

Security guards are clearing the construction site in Block 8, Quynh Thien (Hoang Mai Town) on the afternoon of April 9th.

The current situation is due to inadequacies and negligence in land and household registration management by government officials at all levels over the years (both in the areas where people currently live and in their hometowns), leading to the current dilemma of "abandoning the project is regrettable, but maintaining it is problematic." However, examining the right and wrong, and the responsibilities of officials and citizens, requires time and cannot be done immediately. The immediate priority for both officials and residents is to hand over the land to ensure the timely completion of National Highway 1A. Anyone obstructing the construction of this vital national highway, for any reason whatsoever, is violating the law and must be dealt with accordingly.

Furthermore, some residents deliberately made unreasonable demands, such as questioning the compensation rates among affected households; demanding compensation for land within the cleared area of ​​PMU1; and questioning the land price framework for residential and garden land. For these reasons, along the 3.4 km route, eight households made unreasonable demands, hindering the simultaneous construction. Specifically, at the southern bank of Hoang Mai Bridge, there is still an obstacle related to Mr. Nguyen Van Hoan's household; in Block 16, Quynh Xuan Ward, there is still an obstacle related to Mr. Nguyen Van Du's household; and in Block 4, Quynh Thien Ward, there is still an obstacle related to Mr. Nguyen Ba Tien's household… It is noteworthy that these obstacles could all be explained and resolved if local government officials had truly intervened.

Some key officials in the town claimed that the delay in land handover was due to ongoing procedures for payment processing and the planning of simultaneous construction protection measures, while the April 15th deadline was fast approaching. Was this because they did not fully grasp the importance of this national-level project, or did they misunderstand the conclusions of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee in Notice 147? In light of this situation, during a field inspection on April 8th, 2014, Mr. Huynh Thanh Dien – Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee – frankly pointed out that the delay was due to the lack of decisive and coordinated action from local government officials at all levels, especially the town's leadership. He also directed Hoang Mai town to mobilize the entire political system, develop and implement a plan to quickly resolve obstacles, and resolutely hand over all land before the April 15th deadline.

Following the directive from the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, the Party committees and authorities at all levels in Hoang Mai Town have taken action to resolve the initial obstacles, approximately 1km in Quynh Thien area. Generally, the households are largely in agreement, and the construction protection work is proceeding smoothly. However, with the deadline for handing over the land fast approaching, the Party committees and authorities of Hoang Mai need to simultaneously carry out propaganda and mobilization efforts while implementing a new construction protection plan to ensure the handover is completed on time. The people need to understand and agree to cooperate actively with the authorities to quickly hand over the land, ensuring the progress of the road construction. Every official and citizen of Hoang Mai Town must be aware that they are citizens living at the gateway of National Highway 1A passing through Nghe An province. Therefore, more than any other citizen of Nghe An, the people of Hoang Mai must demonstrate the spirit of "leading the way"; This reflects the mindset of urban citizens in the effort to build Nghe An into a center of the North Central region.

Reporters' Team