Ban Mong - when worry is no longer a premonition
In the wake of the noise that some forest land areas allocated to the people in 2013 overlapped with the planning of the Ban Mong Irrigation Lake project, we went up to Chau Binh commune in early September. With what we heard and saw, the premonition from 2022 has appeared, the land that was already facing many difficulties because of the mega project with a record "suspended" time has begun to have complications...
Nhat Lan • September 30, 2024
During the trip to Chau Binh in October 2022, the root causes of the problems in the Ban Mong Irrigation Reservoir Project, and the hardships of many living situations in the "long-suspended, long-suspended" planning area were conveyed by Nghe An Newspaper through the articles "Ban Mong, many sighs”, “Ban Mong, a premonition of worry…”; “Ban Mong, a major project with no completion date yet”.
Indeed, that period in Dong Phau, Binh Quang, Quynh 2... was filled with the people's worries and concerns; the concerns of the Party Committee, the Chau Binh commune government, and the village and hamlet cadres. There, a part of the people after receiving compensation and support were not resettled, had to accept a temporary life while waiting wearily for the State to arrange and assign new housing. A large number of other people, when their land was recovered, received compensation and support but returned to their old place of residence to maintain their daily life and production; even many households built new temporary houses, despite the government's reminders and record of violations. These shortcomings and inadequacies are obvious, and officials from the grassroots to the district know about them, but they cannot do anything to help the people, except to propagate and mobilize people not to violate the law, or to make a record of some violations of construction on agricultural land or land that has been recovered for compensation and site clearance.
The case of Mr. Nguyen Viet Chung’s household (Dong Phau village) is an example of the weary situation of waiting for resettlement land. Mr. Chung’s family had their land confiscated since the end of December 2021; all of their land assets, houses, gardens, etc. were exchanged for a compensation and support amount of exactly 1 billion VND.
Before preparing the compensation file, the Compensation Council promised Mr. Chung that the resettlement land would be handed over soon. However, the resettlement land was not available “soon” as the officials said, and afterwards, his family’s residence was constantly being moved, and their lives and jobs were disrupted. From the old house, Mr. Chung’s family had to stay at a relative’s house; a short time later, they had to accept a temporary life in a dilapidated house of a household whose land had also been confiscated but had moved elsewhere… Because of the prolonged suffering, Mr. Chung lamented: “The mouths are like a mountain. If the situation of waiting for resettlement land continues, the compensation money will be consumed and eventually run out…”.
The area with the most prominent situation of new temporary constructions and replanting of perennial trees in the water storage area of the Ban Mong Irrigation Reservoir Project is Binh Quang village. In October 2022, on the land area that the State had reclaimed, there were thousands of acacia trees replanted by the people. There were areas where the acacia trees were 2-3 years old, with a circumference of about 7-8cm at the base; there were areas where the acacia trees had been newly planted for a few months to a year, 30-50cm high, with acacia leaves of various green colors stretching for kilometers. Among the acacia forests and gardens, there were many houses and barns using cheap materials, hastily built, and made temporary. Some houses were inhabited; but there were many abandoned houses surrounded by grass and bushes that had to be turned to enter...
Because of many shortcomings, the area where the Ban Mong Reservoir Project was implemented in Chau Binh Commune was like a picture without bright colors, so the staff of Quy Chau district was also full of worries. As the Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment at that time, Mr. Lo Thanh Son, confided: "Due to the lack of capital for the project, compensation, support and resettlement had many shortcomings and difficulties that the district could not completely handle..." Or as Secretary of the Quy Chau District Party Committee Vuong Quang Minh (now Principal of the Provincial Political School) also said: "There have been many meetings between National Assembly deputies and voters of Quy Chau district. Every time, the district proposed and recommended this issue to the National Assembly deputies. It must be said that the project lasted for more than 10 years, so the staff and people of Quy Chau were very tired...".
Every time the district proposed and recommended this issue to the National Assembly delegates. Frankly speaking, the project has lasted for more than 10 years, so the officials and people of Quy Chau are very tired...".
Former Secretary of Quy Chau District Party Committee Vuong Quang Minh
At the end of August, there was some noise on social networks that reminded us of the bad feeling that would come to the Ban Mong Reservoir Project in 2022. That was when some people in Chau Binh commune posted on Facebook the story of the assigned forest land overlapping the planning, affecting their rights when the district made a plan to reclaim the land.
Connecting with the leaders of Chau Binh commune, confirmed. Chairman of Chau Binh commune People's Committee, Mr. Le Van Toan briefly said: "In 2013, the Provincial People's Committee reclaimed forestry land from Co Ba Forestry Farm and handed it over to Quy Chau district to give to households that did not have land for production. Of these, there were more than 47 hectares of natural forest under the planning of Ban Mong Irrigation Reservoir Project, but the consulting unit and the commune did not know, and handed it over to the people right from the first phase. Now, when the land is reclaimed, according to regulations, there will be no compensation. The district has a plan to compensate for the land with equivalent value, but the people do not agree, so some people posted it on social networks...".
...Now that land is being recovered, according to regulations, there will be no compensation. The district has a plan to compensate for the land with equivalent value, but people do not agree. Some people have posted it on social networks..."
Chairman of Chau Binh Commune People's Committee Le Van Toan
Accessing the report of Chau Binh Commune People's Committee a few days later, this content is clearer. Originating from 2013, the time when the Provincial People's Committee reclaimed more than 1,100 hectares of forestry land belonging to Co Ba Forestry and handed it over to Quy Chau District People's Committee for management. Together with the District People's Committee, Chau Binh Commune received the land handover in the field from Co Ba Forestry. From the direction of the superiors, Chau Binh Commune made a plan to allocate land to hamlets and villages, organized meetings to select eligible households; then, also in 2013, coordinated with consultants to promptly allocate forest land to the people. By 2019, when implementing the steps to reclaim land to clear the reservoir of the Ban Mong Irrigation Reservoir Project, it was discovered that 47 hectares of forestry land allocated to 149 households overlapped the planning. This incident was reported to relevant levels, departments and branches, and then the solution was proposed to re-issue the land and adjust the Land Use Rights Certificate for affected households. And to implement this plan, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the People's Committee of Chau Binh commune to organize a meeting to ask for opinions from households on August 23 and 28.
However, at the two meetings, people requested to convert the recovered natural forest land into land for planting raw material forests for economic development, not to receive natural forest land. Representatives of the District Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Commune People's Committee explained for people to share. However, according to the provisions of current law, their wishes were not met, so after the meeting, some people posted information on social networking sites, causing negative public opinion. Therefore, the Chau Binh Commune People's Committee met with them to discuss and ask them to stop providing information, waiting for authorities at all levels to resolve...
On September 19, knowing that the People's Committee of Quy Chau district continued to hold meetings to collect people's opinions, we went up to Chau Binh commune to attend two meetings of villagers 34 and Quynh 1. At the two meetings, we heard Mr. Tran Bao Linh - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Le Van Toan - Chairman of the People's Committee of Chau Binh commune... talk about the causes leading to the overlapping planning situation, on behalf of the officials who had allocated land 10 years ago, admit their mistakes to the people, and present specific land exchange plans for each household.
Listening to people talk about the current situation of using natural forest areas that overlap with planning, explaining their difficulties and expressing their wishes. It is really heartbreaking to hear. Because as Mr. Tran Bao Linh said, "the land recovered by the province and handed over to the locality is all given to the people, the district and commune officials do not receive an inch; the allocation of forestry land in the context of the Ban Mong Irrigation Reservoir Project not being implemented for many years, the boundaries are unclear, planning management has not been paid attention to, leading to overlapping of some areas", is the truth. And because the people's wish to exchange the land for planting trees is also completely legitimate. Because the forestry land allocated to the people is originally intended to become the people's means of production. However, the allocated forestry land has natural forests, so for 10 years the land users only shouldered the responsibility of protecting the forest, until 2023 when they received a meager amount of 400 thousand VND/ha for forest protection!
But in conclusion, there was understanding and sharing in the two meetings. After the reasons and details of the land exchange plan were made clear, although not as expected, the majority of people in the two villages 34 and Quynh 1 agreed. The subsequent synthesis of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the People's Committee of Chau Binh commune showed that after careful review, the data had changed. The area of forestry land allocated to the people in 2013 that overlapped the planning was 29.3 hectares; involving 94 households in 7 villages, including: Ke Nam, Binh 2, Ke Khoang, Quynh 1, Quynh 2, village 32, village 34. At the meetings on September 19-20, there were a total of 71 households attending the meeting, of which 51 households agreed with the district's plan, 20 households did not agree.
With limited time in Chau Binh commune, we returned to Binh Quang village, where a large number of people have received compensation and handed over their land to the State but returned to their old residences. On the land that will become the future Ban Mong lake, acacia forests still stretch far and wide, interspersed with temporary houses. Mr. Nguyen Van Manh - a citizen of Binh Quang village who is not subject to relocation, acknowledged that the households returning to replant trees are taking a big "gamble". If the project continues to be delayed for a few more years, they will win, but if the project is implemented, they will lose everything.
I was also suggested to plant on the land of a household that had moved away, but I didn’t dare. Living in an area without electricity, without phone signal, and not being able to communicate with anyone like this is very sad. But the most worrying thing is that when the project to store water in the reservoir comes, there is a risk of losing the entire road, and the future is uncertain…”.
Mr. Nguyen Van Manh - resident of Binh Quang village
According to additional information from Chau Binh commune, the reservoir area still has many problems and obstacles. Among them, there are 443 graves at Ke Khoang cemetery that cannot be compensated or relocated because a new cemetery has not been arranged. “This issue has been addressed early, specifically, an agreement has been reached with Co Ba Forestry to select the land to build a new cemetery. The district has also completed the compensation records for the graves, is publicly posting them, and is seeking public opinions to complete the plan, and proceed to approve and pay the costs to the people. However, the process of allocating land to the locality is still pending; meanwhile, because there is no new cemetery, when a relative passes away, the people still have to place the remains in the old cemetery. This is something that the Party Committee and the commune government are very worried about because according to traditional culture, the exhumation takes time, which will affect the site clearance work when the project continues…”.
In Chau Binh commune, we have connected to know that Quy Chau district has a firm grasp of the situation of the Ban Mong Irrigation Reservoir water storage area, and has a detailed plan to thoroughly handle each specific issue. At the same time, we have connected with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to have source information on the next steps to be implemented in the Ban Mong Irrigation Reservoir Project, along with the instructions of the provincial leaders. Thereby, we know that the progress of completing the key works of the Ban Mong Irrigation Reservoir Project (phase 1) is determined at the end of 2025. Thus, the time fund is very limited, while the work content is really messy and difficult. Thinking to complete on schedule, when the funding issue has been cleared, we need to work together. Not only the participation of Party committees, authorities, departments, branches..., but very importantly, the work together of the people in the affected area!
