Timely rectification of illegal land exploitation in Do Thanh - Yen Thanh

(Baonghean) - Nghe An Newspaper received a petition from people in the livestock farm village (Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district) reflecting the situation of illegal land exploitation that is happening massively, affecting people's lives. Through investigation, the people's reflection is correct; Yen Thanh district People's Committee needs to take timely measures to rectify the above situation...

In the petition, the people said that recently, the hamlet has been experiencing massive gravel mining, causing disorder and insecurity. The people of the two hamlets of Trai Ca Nuoi and Dong Thi have repeatedly reported to the Commune People's Committee about the illegal hill gravel mining, causing serious landslides, affecting households living around the foot of the hill. In particular, there is a mining machine near the foot of a 110KV high-voltage power pole, causing people to live in constant fear.

Based on the information reported by the people, the reporter went directly to Do Thanh commune on June 2 to find out the reality. It was only 7am but the road connecting from Highway 205 to Tram Cattle Farm hamlet was filled with dust. The road was full of rocks and dirt because it had just been newly built, running around Rong mountain leading to the soil exploitation area. At the exploitation site, there were 2 excavators scooping soil and dumping it onto trucks. The whole area was dug up and dirty. Within 5 minutes, dozens of cars lined up to carry soil and then dispersed in all directions; wherever the cars went, dust flew up.

Every day, hundreds of cars come in to buy land and then spread out everywhere without strict management from local authorities. (photo taken on the morning of June 2, 2015).

According to the investigation, there are 2 units exploiting the land in the above area: Thanh Son Trading and Service Joint Stock Company, directed by Mr. Ha Thanh Binh, and Mr. Son (a resident of Trai Ca Nuoi hamlet), hired by Mr. Hoang Quoc Manh, Head of the Experimental and Breeding Station, to exploit the land. This is an area of ​​land managed by the commune.

Meeting with Mr. Nguyen Van Xuyen, Chairman of the People's Committee of Do Thanh Commune, as soon as he presented the problem, Mr. Xuyen immediately called Mr. Ho Duc An, the commune's construction land officer: "I request to disband and suspend immediately. If not disbanded, bring the machine here". Explaining the above phone call, Mr. Xuyen said: "Yesterday morning, I asked my colleagues to check the site and found that there was a situation where trucks carrying soil were not used for road construction but were sold outside. The commune worked with Mr. Manh (Mr. Hoang Quoc Manh, Head of the Experimental and Seed Production Station - PV) and assigned that if Mr. Manh could not manage, they would not allow the land to be taken anymore. However, this morning the above situation continued, so I directed my colleagues to go to the scene to check and suspend the exploitation activities".

Mr. Xuyen said that a few days ago, Mr. Hoang Quoc Manh, Head of the Experimental and Seed Production Station, submitted a request to exploit 1,000m3 of soil to build a graded road for an intra-field traffic road (exploitation started from June 1, 2015). The commune agreed and assigned Mr. Manh the responsibility to ensure the safety of the ground and slope when taking the soil, and not to cause landslides or water stagnation. However, when the commune inspected, it was found that the soil was exploited for sale elsewhere and not for building an intra-field road. Mr. Ho Duc An, Construction Land Officer of Do Thanh Commune People's Committee, said: When we went there, the exploitation area was in the planning area but the operation was not in accordance with regulations, and the land after exploitation could not be managed. Therefore, we proposed to temporarily stop exploitation to wait for further handling.

Soil exploitation area in Trai Cay Nuoi hamlet (Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district). (photo taken on the morning of June 2, 2015).

Regarding the exploitation of Thanh Son Consulting and Construction Joint Stock Company, the Do Thanh Commune People's Committee said that it had been approved by the District People's Committee. Specifically, on November 14, 2014, Do Thanh Commune sent Document No. 116/TTr-UBND to the District People's Committee requesting to expand the road from Road 205 to the livestock farm with a length of 600m. At the same time, it requested to expand the hill area 40m deeper and proposed to supplement the planning of interspersed residential areas and resettlement to create favorable conditions for people to travel conveniently and develop the socio-economy. On January 12, 2015, the Yen Thanh District People's Committee issued Document No. 28/QD-UBND agreeing in principle to the Do Thanh Commune People's Committee to renovate and expand the road according to the commune's proposal. After receiving the approval of the District People's Committee, the commune signed a contract with Thanh Son Consulting and Construction Joint Stock Company to dig the ground to level the ground and expand the road.

According to the contract signed by the Commune People's Committee with the company, the exploitation volume is 14,000m3, the contract value is 56 million VND. The exploitation period is 1 year, starting from January 27, 2015 in 2 sections. Section 1 from the current road surface length to the foot of the mountain is 25m2, from the current road surface to the top of the mountain is 35m. For section 2 adjacent to the residential area of ​​Dong Thi hamlet and phase 1. Mr. Xuyen said: Do Thanh is currently facing difficulties in residential land due to overpopulation. Therefore, the commune has submitted a request to the District People's Committee for permission to widen the road leading to the breeding farm area, from 3m to 14.5m and proposed to supplement the planning of interspersed residential areas, resettlement, creating favorable conditions for people to travel conveniently, developing socio-economy.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Phan Thanh Cao - Deputy Head of the Department of Industry and Trade of Yen Thanh district, said: After reviewing the documents and conducting field inspections, based on the planning of the rural traffic system and the scale of the road according to regulations, the department advised the district leaders to issue a decision agreeing in principle to allow Do Thanh commune to renovate, upgrade and expand the road, but there was no content of rectification to renovate the ground level". Meanwhile, Mr. Thai Huu An, Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Yen Thanh district, said that the district's policy is to allow Do Thanh commune to upgrade the road, not to exploit land for sale. Up to now, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the district has not signed any mineral exploitation license in Do Thanh commune.

Previously, the People's Committee of Yen Thanh district received feedback from people about the land exploitation situation in Do Thanh commune. After receiving the petition from the people, on May 14, the Chairman of the People's Committee of the district issued Official Letter No. 436/UBND-VP assigning the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to preside over, coordinate with the Department of Industry and Trade and related departments, and the People's Committee of Do Thanh commune to specifically inspect to report and promptly handle for households.

On June 3, 2015, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment coordinated with the Department of Industry and Trade to conduct a field inspection at Do Thanh commune to report to the Chairman of the District People's Committee for timely handling. Mr. Thai Huu An, Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said: After the actual inspection, it was found that the signing of a contract with a business to exploit the land by Do Thanh commune was against the regulations. Because currently, the District People's Committee has only agreed in principle for the People's Committee of Do Thanh commune to expand and renovate the road. However, the People's Committee of Do Thanh commune has not yet completed the procedures and documents for approval to implement the project. Therefore, the People's Committee of Do Thanh commune borrowed the name of the project to expand and renovate the road to exploit the land while not yet permitted by the competent authority. The inspection team has drawn up a record to suspend the land exploitation activities. At the same time, there will be a written report to the Chairman of the District People's Committee for appropriate handling in accordance with regulations.

Thus, the current problem is that the Do Thanh commune government needs to seriously learn from experience and at the same time overcome the above-mentioned illegal land exploitation situation. On the part of the Yen Thanh district People's Committee, it is necessary to strengthen land management, regularly conduct inspections to promptly detect and handle violations in land management and use to avoid similar incidents as in Do Thanh commune from happening again.

Nguyen Hung