Illegal land occupation and house construction in Dien Chau: Need to be resolved once and for all!
(Baonghean) - Recently, Nghe An Newspaper received a petition from Mr. Tran Van Hung, residing in Quyet Thang hamlet, Dien Bich commune (Dien Chau) reporting that Mr. Phan Van Tham (living in the same hamlet) had previously sold land to his family but now "turned around" to appropriate and dump building materials on his family's land. The family promptly reported the incident to the authorities but after more than 2 years it has not been resolved...
 |
| The illegally built house of Mr. Phan Van Tham's family. |
Mr. Tran Van Hung said: At the end of 1992, his family received an undocumented transfer from Mr. Phan Van Tham of a house foundation and garden land of 400 square meters in Quyet Thang hamlet, Dien Bich commune (Dien Chau) for 400,000 VND. His family built a house and settled down, and in 2001, the land was granted a land use rights certificate. However, in July 2012, Mr. Tham's family broke down his family's fence to fill in the soil and build the house foundation...
Through verification, it is known that Mr. Phan Van Tham's household reclaimed and used land to build a house in Quyet Thang hamlet during the period of 1982 to 1991. But then he transferred the above land plot (plot number 263, map sheet 02, area 400m2 - PV) to Mr. Tran Van Hung to move to a new residence in Hai Dong hamlet. Although there were no transfer documents, in the land claim petition sent to Dien Bich Commune People's Committee on October 21, 2011, Mr. Phan Van Tham stated: "In 1990, due to difficult family circumstances, the house was destroyed by a storm, so I sold the land area with the house foundation to Mr. Hung and my family moved to Hai Dong Cooperative to live...". Thus, it is true that Mr. Tham sold the land to Mr. Hung's family. Furthermore, from 1992 to 1994, implementing Directive No. 364 of the Government on mapping nationwide, Dien Bich commune has established a register and declared to each household using land in the area. At this time, Mr. Tran Van Hung's family is the direct user of land plot No. 263 on map sheet No. 02, area 400m2 according to the 1994 cadastral records. With the following land plot adjacent landmarks: The East borders the drainage ditch managed by the Commune People's Committee; the North and West borders plot 268 managed by the Commune People's Committee; the South borders plot 261 owned by Mr. Tran Xuan and plot 262 owned by Ms. Tran Thi Van; the Southwest borders plot 260 owned by Mr. Nguyen Vinh. Mr. Hung's family has been using the land stably since 2001 and he was granted a land use right certificate by the state with certificate number 00068. Since then, no one has disputed it.
Thus, Mr. Hung's ownership of plot 263, map sheet number 02, area 400m2, certificate number 00068 is legal. Therefore, Mr. Tham's family's blatant dumping of materials and building a house on Mr. Hung's family's land is a violation of the law.
Regarding Mr. Tran Van Hung's statement that the incident was promptly reported to the Commune People's Committee by his family, but after more than 2 years it has not been completely resolved. In the latest document (August 26, 2014) with the content of responding to the results of handling citizens' petitions, reporting to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, the Propaganda Department... signed by Mr. Pham Van Hung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Bich Commune, he partly admitted: "In September 2012, Mr. Phan Van Tham's family dug the foundation to build a house on a part of Mr. Tran Van Hung's family's land. The commune suspended it but Mr. Phan Van Tham's family did not comply... In June 2013, Mr. Phan Van Tham's family continued to pour materials to build a house and the People's Committee of Dien Bich Commune issued Decision No. 36/QD-UBND dated June 21, 2013 on suspending the act of gathering materials and carrying out construction on disputed land, but Mr. Phan Van Tham's family did not comply and continued to build. Currently, Mr. Phan Van Tiep, Mr. Phan Van Tham's son, has built a 3-room house with a flat roof on a part of Mr. Tran Van Hung's land. Tran Van Hung...”. Regarding the issue of responsibility, in an exchange with us, Mr. Pham Van Hung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Bich Commune, said: "The land already has a red book, when a dispute arises, it must be resolved by the Court...". Meanwhile, Mr. Cao Thanh Long, Deputy Chief Inspector of Dien Chau District, affirmed: The Court resolves disputes over land that already has a book, but first of all, preventing land encroachment and illegal construction is the responsibility of Dien Bich Commune. The commune should have been resolute and resolved the issue right from the beginning, but this...
It can be seen that the responsibility of the court to determine whose land belongs to whom is the court, but illegal construction is a violation of the law under the responsibility of the local government, so with its responsibility, the People's Committee of Dien Bich commune must prevent, enforce, and at the same time impose penalties to demonstrate the strictness of the law. However, the hesitation and lack of legal knowledge of the Dien Bich commune officials led to the consequences: Mr. Tham finished building the house on the land under the use rights of Mr. Tran Van Hung, but Mr. Hung did not dare to live in his own house for fear of being threatened. Currently, the 3-room flat-roofed house of Mr. Phan Van Tiep, son of Mr. Phan Van Tham, is not only built on the land of Mr. Tran Van Hung's family, but also on the land of Mrs. Tran Thi Van, and continues to encroach on the land of Mr. Tran Xuan, the land of Mrs. Le Thi Chau and part of the land of plot 268 managed by the People's Committee of Dien Bich commune. The People's Committee of Dien Bich commune knows clearly about the incident, but currently there is no solution!?
Therefore, the People's Committee of Dien Chau district and the People's Committee of Dien Bich commune need to quickly intervene and thoroughly resolve the act of blatant land occupation and illegal house construction by Mr. Phan Van Tham's family, in order to ensure the strictness of the law, and at the same time return the land to Mr. Tran Van Hung's family as well as other families, avoiding prolonged complaints. Accordingly, it is necessary to direct the review and assign responsibility for handling the consequences to individuals and collective cadres of Dien Bich commune in letting the problem arise as complicated as it is now. This should be considered a valuable lesson in resolving land-related cases so that similar cases do not arise in the future.
Attorney Nguyen Trong Hai, Trong Hai & Associates Law Office: The dispute between Mr. Hung and Mr. Tham occurred in July 2012. Therefore, the legal document to be applied to resolve this issue is the 2003 Land Law, Decree 181/2004/ND-CP. Article 135 of the 2003 Land Law and Article 159 of Decree 181/2004/ND-CP dated October 29, 2004 of the Government on the implementation of the Land Law stipulate: When the disputing parties cannot reach a settlement, they shall submit a petition to the People's Committee of the commune, ward or town (hereinafter referred to as the Commune-level People's Committee) where the disputed land is located. The Commune-level People's Committee is responsible for coordinating with the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations, and other social organizations to mediate within 30 working days from the date the Commune-level People's Committee receives the petition. In the above case, when Mr. Tham's family broke the fence and encroached on the land to build a house, Mr. Hung's family promptly reported it to the local authorities. However, the handling of the Dien Bich Commune People's Committee was superficial, not thorough, and did not fulfill its responsibilities. According to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 17 of Decree No. 180/2007/ND-CP of the Government, the Commune People's Committee has the right to issue a decision to suspend construction of illegal construction works in the area under its management; to decide to enforce demolition of illegal construction works in the area under its management. When Mr. Tham's family built a house on the encroached land of other households, the Dien Bich Commune People's Committee should have issued a decision to suspend construction. If not, it must decide to enforce demolition of the works. After completing the above procedures but still ineffective, the disputing parties have the right to submit a petition to the People's Court of Dien Chau district to request a settlement. |
Article and photos:Quang An
