Hung Dong commune government is irresponsible!

(Baonghean) - On August 5, 2015, Mr. Le Van Thu (residing at house 2A, lane 39, Nguyen Thai Hoc street, Vinh city) sent a petition to Nghe An Newspaper denouncing the incident of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong (residing at lane 31, Dinh Van Chat street, Hung Dong commune, Vinh city) driving concrete piles in lane 31, preventing Mr. Thu's family from building a house. In the petition, Mr. Thu said that behind the incident, there was the support of the commune leaders...

Mr. Le Van Thu's complaint is quite long, so the content is summarized as follows: In March 2011, Mr. Thu received the transfer of the right to use land plot No. 433, map sheet No. 21, in Yen Binh hamlet, Hung Dong commune from Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh. This land plot is adjacent to lane 31, and Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh confirmed that it is a shared lane, with households in the lane contributing funds to buy sand and gravel, hire workers, and the commune providing cement to make a concrete road.

However, when Mr. Thu built his house, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong (who lives at the end of alley 31) asked him to pay 15 million VND before he could use alley 31. The reason Ms. Hong gave was that she had spent money on road construction. Because she did not accept Ms. Hong's request, when Mr. Thu built his house, Ms. Hong had people put concrete piles in the middle of alley 31, preventing workers from constructing the project. Next to Mr. Thu's plot of land 433, Mr. Nguyen Hong Lam and Ms. Nguyen Thi Viet Ha (who bought land from Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh) also had to pay Ms. Hong 15 million VND before they could use alley 31 to build their house.

Also in the petition, Mr. Le Van Thu informed that the reason Ms. Hong acted like that was because she had the support of Mr. Tran Anh Tan - Chairman of the People's Committee of Hung Dong commune. Mr. Thu wrote: Mr. Tran Anh Tan is the son-in-law of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong. When Mr. Nguyen Hong Lam and Ms. Nguyen Thi Viet Ha's family paid money to Ms. Hong, a document was drafted, and Mr. Tran Anh Tan signed the document as a witness. On August 2, 2015, at Ms. Hong's house, Mr. Tran Anh Tan was the one who drafted the document "receipt of road construction money" to request Mr. Thu to pay 15 million VND to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong.

Alley 31, Dinh Van Chat Street (Vinh City). (Photo taken on the morning of August 11)

To prove the information stated in the petition, Mr. Le Van Thu presented a certificate from Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh regarding the construction of lane 31. According to the certificate, to build the lane, Hung Dong commune provided cement; Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh donated additional land to widen the road, and at the same time, paid all the costs for stone and sand; the cost of labor for pouring concrete was divided into three parts, Mr. Chinh paid one part, Ms. Hong and her children paid two parts. Regarding the payment of money by Mr. Nguyen Hong Lam and Ms. Nguyen Thi Viet Ha to Ms. Hong, it is stated in the document "Certificate of payment for lane 31 road on Dinh Van Chat street - Hung Dong commune - Vinh city". This document was drafted on July 12, 2013, stating "According to the request of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong's family, our family must pay Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong's family 15,000,000 VND to build the road. The reason, according to Ms. Hong, is that Ms. Hong bought land to build lane 31".

In the document, the witness is Tran Anh Tan. In addition, Mr. Thu also presented a handwritten paper titled "receipt of road construction money", with the content: "I am Le Van Thu. I gave Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong, Yen Binh hamlet, Hung Dong commune (Vinh city) the amount of money: 15,000,000 VND (fifteen million VND). Ms. Hong's road construction money was spent on building a concrete road from Dinh Van Chat street to Ms. Hong's house...". According to Mr. Thu, this paper was written by Mr. Tran Anh Tan himself. "It's not that I don't know the saying "sell distant brothers, buy close neighbors", as a latecomer, I am willing to contribute part of the road construction cost, however, not such a large amount, and not in such an imposing manner. Moreover, I also cannot accept a local government leader who acts like Mr. Tran Anh Tan..." - Mr. Le Van Thu was indignant.

Present at alley 31, Dinh Van Chat street on the morning of August 11, 2015, there was a concrete stake in the middle of the alley. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong confirmed the stake and explained that she had settled in Yen Binh hamlet since 1969, when it was still a rice field, so she invested a lot of effort, bought land, stones, and bricks to build the road. Previously, the alley was small, because of the transportation business, she spent money to buy land to widen the alley; in 2010, she and her 2 sons-in-law invested money to build a concrete road. Regarding the land of Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh (sold to Mr. Thu and 3 households), he used the back alley road, not alley 31. Asked if there were any documents to prove the purchase of land to open the road? According to Ms. Hong, there were no documents. Regarding the information that Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh confirmed with the land buyers that he had participated in investing in the construction of alley 31, Ms. Hong denied this and continued to affirm that Mr. Chinh's land was adjacent to the alley behind; households that bought land from Mr. Chinh had to use that alley. Because Mr. Thu "did not know what to do", she put up stakes to prevent him from using the road... Ms. Hong said: "That's the truth. Now, let's not talk about it. Don't tell the newspaper, if the Central or the province comes, it's the same...".

In reality, it is not as Ms. Hong informed! Behind Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh's land plot, there is no road but land plot number 137, on which is the house of Ms. Tran Thi Huong. Ms. PTPT (the head of the family living next to Tran Thi Huong's household) said that she has been living here for 4 years. When she moved here, Ms. Tran Thi Huong's house was already there. Checking related documents, Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh was granted Land Use Right Certificate No. AB 442707 by the People's Committee on January 10, 2005 for land plot 392, 526.87m2 wide in Yen Binh hamlet, Hung Dong commune. In Land Use Right Certificate No. AB 442707, land plot 392 of Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh is adjacent to 3 land plots 152, 137 and 153; The remaining side is 16.32m long, adjacent to lane 31. Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh then transferred the land to 4 households; these households were granted land use right certificates by Vinh City People's Committee, and it also shows that the only entrance is lane 31!

Also on August 11, we met Mr. Tran Anh Tan - Chairman of Hung Dong Commune People's Committee. According to Mr. Tan, before, lane 31 was only 1.8m wide; Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong bought land from both families (0.5m on one side, 0.7m on the other); and invested money to build the road, so the families who came later needed to be responsible. Regarding the role of a witness, Mr. Tan explained that because the parties were not proficient in drafting documents, when they asked for help, he would help. Mr. Tan said: "I am Ms. Hong's son-in-law but I have no rights in this matter. I am just a passerby, when someone is in trouble and asks for help, I will help. With Mr. Thu, at first there was an agreement with Ms. Hong about money. He called me several times to come down and testify. When I came down, he showed me a notebook and asked me to write a note. When I finished writing, he kept it and said he would report my actions...". Lane 31 is a shared lane, with a number and a name, so why did the commune let Ms. Hong block the lane with stakes, obstructing traffic? Why didn't the commune government resolve Mr. Thu's petition? Mr. Tran Anh Tan replied: "I just found out about Ms. Hong blocking the lane with stakes. This is not right, we will send someone down to handle it. As for Mr. Thu's petition, the commune has not received it yet. Hung Dong commune also has many things to resolve, so regarding the matter between Ms. Hong's family and Mr. Thu, we will check the receipt of the petition and consider...".

On the morning of August 14, returning to lane 31, Dinh Van Chat street, we noticed that the alley barrier had been removed, however, the construction of Mr. Le Van Thu's house had not yet continued. Mr. Thu said that "I submitted a petition on August 5, but up to now, the Hung Dong commune government has not taken any action. If we call the workers to work, something bad might happen"; and that's why he "submitted a petition to the Vinh City People's Committee for resolution...". On the afternoon of August 25, the Hung Dong commune government organized a mediation session between the two families, however, it did not achieve any results.

Combining what has been heard, seen, and together with the information shown in the land records, land use rights certificates... of the relevant parties, it can be seen that lane 31 is jointly owned, and the households who bought land from Mr. Nguyen Huu Chinh have full rights to use it. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong's act of planting stakes in lane 31 to obstruct traffic and prevent Mr. Le Van Thu from using it is a wrongful act. Although the Hung Dong commune government has had an impact on Ms. Hong to remove the stakes blocking the road, it has been slow in resolving the issues between the families in lane 31. Public opinion is questioning whether or not behind the incident was the support of the Chairman of the People's Committee of Hung Dong commune, Tran Anh Tan?

Ha Giang