Need to strictly handle officials who violated the law in the case of illegal land sale

(Baonghean) - Through understanding the actual situation, it can be seen that in Quynh Vinh commune, there are currently two issues that need to be resolved soon: It is necessary to seriously consider building a team of grassroots cadres and handling outstanding land issues due to illegal transfer of agricultural land.

» Village chief sells land without permission: Violations are rampant

» Bypassing the commune, the village chief sold agricultural land

Failure to follow instructions

In April 2016, the Standing Committee of the Hoang Mai Town Party Committee worked with Quynh Vinh Commune to inspect the implementation of Conclusion No. 928 on land management and use in the commune. In the conclusion announcement, the Standing Committee of the Town Party Committee pointed out: The Party Committee and the government of Quynh Vinh Commune have been slow in implementing the inspection conclusions; have not completed the dossier to submit to the town and higher levels for consideration and handling of 58 plots of land sold without authority; have not returned money and issued a decision to recover land for State management for 7 households that bought land without authority for agricultural production purposes; have not handled violations of 11 village chiefs who are the masses; the ideology of some comrades in the Commune Party Committee is not really resolute, there are still cases of indifference to the implementation of Conclusion 928.

Before the conclusions of the Standing Committee of Hoang Mai Town Party Committee, the leaders of Quynh Vinh commune admitted shortcomings: The Party Committee and People's Committee of the commune have not focused on directing the implementation of the conclusions; during the implementation process, they did not report to ask for instructions from the superior professional agencies, so the handling still has many shortcomings and is behind schedule.

However, through verifying the petitions of the cadres and people of village 21, it can be seen that the way Quynh Vinh commune acknowledged its shortcomings to the superior agency was not clear. That is, the Party Committee and People's Committee of Quynh Vinh commune have not yet closely followed the direction of the Standing Committee of Hoang Mai Town Party Committee and Conclusion No. 928 to resolve issues related to grassroots cadres and land.

Party members and residents of village 21, Quynh Vinh commune hope that authorities at all levels will soon handle violations committed by individuals in the unauthorized sale of agricultural land. Photo: Pham Bang

Regarding the work of grassroots cadres, related to the illegal transfer of agricultural land, the village chiefs all committed violations directly in carrying out the transfer. However, after the "warning" sentence, most of them were still allowed to hold the position of village chief; or were only dismissed for a 2-year term and then re-elected for the position. As in the case of Mr. Nguyen Sy Duc - Head of Village 21, there were many shortcomings, with actions that clearly showed signs of serious violations of the provisions of the law.

That is, not complying with the direction of the grassroots Party cell; not complying with the orders of the commune government; transferring agricultural land and allowing the transferee of agricultural land to use the land long-term for housing purposes; showing signs of financial violations in the construction of inner-village roads...

However, at the election of village chief 21 held in July 2017, the leader of Quynh Vinh commune, as the chair, did not fully inform the people about Mr. Duc's personal violations so that they could clearly and specifically identify them.

Moreover, at the meeting, they smoothed things over by saying that "he has not lost his citizenship rights and can vote normally", leading to people not fully understanding Mr. Duc's violations and still electing him to hold the position of village chief, leading to dissatisfaction among officials, party members, and people who are knowledgeable about the matter, resulting in complaints and denunciations.

Should transfer the file to the police

Regarding the handling of agricultural land that 17 villages have illegally transferred, the Quynh Vinh commune government is "trying" to complete the land-related documents for the subjects receiving the illegal transfer, so that they can be granted a Land Use Rights Certificate by the competent authority.

According to the provisions of the 2013 Land Law; Decree 43/2014, Decree 45/2014 of the Government; Circulars No. 02 and 23 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment... there are provisions opening up the way to resolve the backlog in land allocation beyond authority before July 1, 2014.

However, to do so, the following regulations must be met: Clarifying and handling responsibilities for those who allocate land without proper authority according to the provisions of law; Considering and deciding on each specific case and only granting Land Use Right Certificates to cases where land has been used stably, without disputes, in accordance with land use planning, detailed urban construction planning or detailed new rural planning approved by competent authorities; must fulfill financial obligations according to regulations.

However, up to now, the handling of individuals who directly transferred land without authority in Quynh Vinh commune has not been resolved completely. The origin of the transferred land is fallow land, agricultural land, now converted to residential land, clearly not in accordance with the residential area planning approved by the competent authority in the new rural construction planning of Quynh Vinh commune.

In particular, the implementation of financial obligations directly transferred by the village level does not reflect the payment of money to the budget... Therefore, it is affirmed that, compared with the provisions of the Land Law, relevant Decrees and Circulars, Quynh Vinh commune cannot complete land records for related families and individuals.

What needs to be done to completely resolve the above issues? Studying the documents issued by the Hoang Mai City Party Committee, Conclusion No. 928; through understanding the actual situation, it is seen that it is necessary to transfer the file to the Police Investigation Agency so that the police can investigate and clarify each case of illegal land transfer.

Only through investigation can we clarify which village cadres illegally transferred agricultural land for the purpose of building village infrastructure; which village cadres took advantage of the village's public affairs to illegally transfer agricultural land for personal gain. From there, there is enough basis to handle the responsibility of individuals who directly transferred land without authority.

Plots of land in the Tau Voi rice fields were sold by Mr. Nguyen Sy Duc, head of village 21. Photo: Nhat Lan

Furthermore, only through investigation can we clarify the officials who committed violations, helping Quynh Vinh commune to rectify the grassroots cadre apparatus. From there, we can ensure political stability, security and order in the area; and reduce the number of complaints and denunciations.

Through the investigation, we will clarify the financial matters through illegal land transactions and transfers; the funds invested in building cultural houses and intra-village roads in 17 villages of Quynh Vinh commune. When the financial issues are transparent and clear, the authorities will be able to propose solutions related to the implementation of financial obligations to the State of the subjects receiving land transfers.

Regarding Quynh Vinh commune, we were told by local officials that the political situation and security and order are quite complicated, partly due to the backlog left over from the past. However, what the Party Committee and the government of Quynh Vinh commune are doing to resolve violations in the management and use of agricultural land will not make the situation in this locality better.

Even if not closely managed, it will lead to unpredictable consequences arising from the story of "legalizing" documents for subjects receiving illegal land transfers. Therefore, it is recommended that the City Party Committee and People's Committee of Hoang Mai Town, based on legal regulations and actual situations, urge and direct relevant agencies, the Party Committee and the government of Quynh Vinh Commune to thoroughly resolve the long-standing violations in land management.

Nhat Lan - Pham Bang