Need consensus to hand over land for Vinh - Cua Lo boulevard project

(Baonghean) - The Vinh - Cua Lo Road Project plays a very important role and significance in the development of Vinh City in general and Nghe An Province in particular. The common benefits cannot be separated from the benefits that the people will enjoy when the project is completed. Therefore, the people need to agree with the State to soon hand over the site and speed up the project's progress.

» Vinh - Cua Lo Boulevard Project: A driving force for development and connection

» Good practices in site clearance for Vinh - Cua Lo boulevard project

Need to hand over the site soon

Currently, the two biggest concerns of the people are the location of the resettlement area and the compensation price when the land is recovered. Regarding resettlement, after the government surveyed and approved the location of the resettlement areas but the people did not agree, the province asked the localities to continue to select and re-survey the location of the new resettlement area to meet the people's wishes.

Authorities survey resettlement sites in Nghi Phu commune (Vinh city). Photo: Thu Huyen.

Thus, it can be seen that although speeding up the project progress is important, there is an equally important issue of ensuring the best life and meeting the legitimate aspirations of the people to the maximum. After all, the implementation of the project is also to bring benefits to the people themselves in the overall common benefits for the development of society.

However, observing the resettlement areas surveyed and proposed by the government, we can see that they are in beautiful locations, with convenient traffic routes and located near the area that must be cleared, so they do not greatly affect the customs and lives of the people. When the State completes the infrastructure, beautiful plots of land will be formed and people can settle down for a long time, the new areas have infrastructure to ensure that people have a better life than the old location. Therefore, we think that people should not make things difficult but should soon reach a consensus so that the province can approve and the contractor has a site to construct the resettlement area.

Regarding land compensation and support policies, the State applies compensation prices for agricultural land as well as residential land and gardens according to current regulations; compensation must be based on general regulations because the State's policies are clear and do not leave anyone disadvantaged. Some households believe that the compensation prices according to State regulations are not commensurate with the market and are not reasonable, thus it can be seen that households have not thoroughly understood the prices according to State regulations.

Based on the Land Price List regulated by the Provincial People's Committee for the period from 2014 to 2019, the Provincial People's Committee authorized the District People's Committee to approve specific land prices for compensation and support based on the principles of investigation and survey by the valuation consultancy unit and the proposal of the Valuation Council. There is no such thing as the District People's Committee determining the price itself. When the State issues regulations on land price lists, it is to apply for many purposes such as: Calculating annual tax payments, paying annual land use fees, calculating taxes, transfer fees, transferring land use rights, etc. Thereby, we see that, if the calculation of the above taxes, fees and charges is applied according to the transfer price on the market, then people using the land will have to pay high annual taxes, fees and charges.

In my opinion, households need to understand clearly that in order to realize Resolution 26 of the Politburo, the authorities at all levels are urgently implementing, aiming to change the face of localities in general and the province in particular. To do this, it is necessary to have the joint efforts and consensus of the people to share with the State in order to create conditions for economic development, thereby improving the lives of the people, so it is not possible to apply the agreed price as for commercial urban projects.

Pursuant to Point d, Clause 3, Article 62 of the 2013 Land Law, the Vinh - Cua Lo Boulevard Project is subject to land acquisition by the State. If the households request compensation that is too high, it will inadvertently lead to increased project site clearance costs, while the State budget is limited, so the project progress is slowed down and the State may not have enough funds to implement the project. Therefore, people need to agree and comply with the general price issued by the State. Because this is a project serving the common interests of the whole province, not for business purposes, demanding market prices is incorrect and inappropriate.

The Vinh - Cua Lo Boulevard project is implemented with the Government's bond capital for the period 2017 - 2020. The form of investment is medium-term, but the goal set by the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee is to quickly complete and hand over this project for use in December 2018. In order to have capital to construct the project items, the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee require the Transport sector to focus on mobilizing capital, selecting contractors and construction units with sufficient capacity and capability to participate in the construction of this road. When households do not agree and refuse to hand over the site, the contractor will not have a clean site for construction, which will lead to many consequences such as the project being behind schedule, prolonged, causing waste of capital; at the same time, people's lives will also be affected.

Great results from the project

Resolution 26-NQ/TW of the Politburo clearly states that Vinh city - a type I urban area, is the core of the urbanization process and the driving force for socio-economic development of Nghe An and the North Central economic region. Vinh city must build its position as the center of the North Central region in terms of finance, trade, tourism, science - technology, information technology, high-tech industry, healthcare, culture, sports, education and training and be an important traffic hub of the entire region. The development goal for Vinh city must be placed in a spatial relationship with Cua Lo town, becoming a modern, civilized and prosperous city. One of the proposed development directions is to build Vinh city and Cua Lo town into a commercial center of the North Central region with the function of a hub for export, import, gathering, distribution and transportation of goods and services.

Nghi Phu 2 Primary School (Vinh City) - a resettlement site of the project. Photo: Pham Bang

One of the factors to achieve that goal is that transport infrastructure plays a very important role. Mr. Nguyen Hong Ky - Director of the Department of Transport shared: When there is transport, promoting regional connectivity will be convenient, because Vinh connects with Cua Lo Town in the future to become a coastal city. In fact, National Highway 1A has been completed, the North - South expressway is being formed, the Nghi Son - Cua Hoi coastal road has an investment policy. Furthermore, the North - South National Highway connecting the East - West National Highway, Ho Chi Minh Road, the road to Thanh Thuy border gate connecting with Laos - Thailand - Myanmar and ASEAN countries has also begun to be implemented.

Thus, the investment in the construction of the Vinh-Cua Lo road, if completed soon, will create a continuous connection between the traffic axes. From there, it will open a new direction of development from urban to sea and vice versa. More importantly, it is this connection that allows Vinh City and neighboring localities to attract investment, effectively exploit the land potential in the Eastern region, build this area into a bustling urban area in the future... exploit the entire marine economy (seaports, tourism, services...) to increase the strength and competitiveness of Vinh compared to many other cities in Vietnam.

Location of Vinh - Cua Lo boulevard on the map.

For households that have to relocate their entire houses, the State will build a new resettlement area, including infrastructure such as drainage, electricity, and better transportation than the old place. In addition, the benefits that each person will directly enjoy, that is, trading, doing business for themselves and their families will certainly be more convenient than before. More specifically, investment in production, exchange of goods, regional linkage, creating momentum and motivation for the development of the whole region will become a reality, and in line with the province's policy of moving towards the East. In fact, if the road is built, it means that the face of this place will change, life will be more stable than it is now, because the land here is currently only suitable for growing rice, uncertain crops, and planting trees but the income is not high. Therefore, early agreement with the State will create more conditions for people to soon access development drivers to increase income and improve their lives.

Identifying this as a key project, the province is currently focusing on the direction work, requiring the entire political system to participate. The province's viewpoint is to create the best conditions, apply the most beneficial policies to ensure the rights of people who have to relocate and resettle, but all must be within the provisions of the law. Believing that, when all are for the common goal, the project will soon be completed and put into use, bringing the highest efficiency...

Thu Huyen - Pham Bang