The Chairman of Que Phong district wrote a letter hoping to help people resettled at Hua Na Hydropower Plant.

Post-resettlement of Hua Na hydropower plant - The road is long and the pain is still there!...

(Baonghean) - Many households have not been granted rice fields; some areas that were planned for production are still stuck in natural forest land; households that have a little land for production have very low and unstable efficiency. These are the realities that exist in some resettlement villages of Hua Na hydropower plant even though it has been nearly 10 years since people moved to their new homes.

It seemed that the problems and debates about the method of calculating and deducting the value of land use rights (LUR) at the departure and arrival places at the Hua Na Hydropower Project would be "resolved" after the meeting on November 18, 2019 between the General Department of Land Management, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the People's Committee of Que Phong district, and Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company. However, more than a month has passed, and the situation has not changed.

The district again… recommended

After more than 1 month of meeting between the General Department of Land Management with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Que Phong District People's Committee, Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company in Hanoi, on November 14, 2019, Que Phong District People's Committee issued Document No. 1481/UBND-HN requesting the Provincial People's Committee to continue to issue a document requesting the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to give instructions to resolve problems regarding the calculation and deduction of land use rights for Hua Na Hydropower Project.

Hua Na Hydropower Dam and Reservoir. Photo: Nhat Lan

In Document No. 1481/UBND-HN, dated May 29, 2019, Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company issued Document No. 280/HHC-KTKH to the Provincial People's Committee requesting guidance on how to calculate and deduct land use rights between the departure and arrival places. On June 7, 2019, the Provincial People's Committee issued Document No. 3933/UBND-NN assigning the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to preside over and coordinate with the Department of Finance and relevant agencies to consider the request of Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company. From June 6, 2019 to August 8, 2019, Que Phong District People's Committee issued 4 documents (647/UBND-HN, 750/UBND-HN, 855/UBND-HN, 979/UBND-HN) reporting to the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment on the implementation of compensation, support and resettlement; land allocation to people; Regarding the calculation of compensation and support for the balance and deduction of land use rights value between the land recovered at the departure place and the land allocated at the resettlement place of Hua Na Hydropower Project. Thereby, it is requested that the Provincial People's Committee soon give written opinions to guide the request of Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company.

On July 23, 2019, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment issued Official Dispatch No. 4021/STNMT-QLDD to the General Department of Land Administration (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) requesting opinions on the content of deducting land use right value between the departure and arrival locations of the Hua Na Hydropower resettlement project. On August 14, 2019, the General Department of Land Administration issued Official Dispatch No. 1549/TCQLDD in response to Official Dispatch No. 4021/STNMT-QLDD of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Due to disagreement with the content of the General Department of Land Management's response, on September 11, 2019, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment issued Document No. 5065/STNMT-QLDD to report to the Provincial People's Committee and advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue Official Dispatch No. 6905/UBND-NN dated September 30, 2019 to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on "Requesting opinions and instructions on handling difficulties when calculating and deducting the value of agricultural land use rights between the departure and arrival places of the Hua Na Hydropower Resettlement Project".

Document No. 1481/UBND-HN dated November 14, 2019 of Que Phong District People's Committee sent to the Provincial People's Committee.

On October 10, 2019, representatives of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the People's Committee of Que Phong district and Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company directly worked with the General Department of Land Management - Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to clarify the problems when calculating the value of agricultural land use rights between the departure and arrival places of the Hua Na Hydropower resettlement project. However, up to now, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has not yet issued a document directing instructions on how to handle the problems.

The delay in handling the problems in the process of calculating the value of agricultural land use rights between the departure and arrival places has made people in the resettlement areas of the Hua Na Hydropower Project very upset. Therefore, the People's Committee of Que Phong district requested the Provincial People's Committee to continue issuing documents requesting the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to give written instructions so that Que Phong district has a basis to continue calculating the value of agricultural land use rights between the departure and arrival places, and approve the payment of the difference in compensation value (if any) to people in the resettlement areas of Hua Na Hydropower Plant.

Speaking to Nghe An Newspaper reporter on October 18, 2019, Mr. Le Van Giap - Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee affirmed that the General Department of Land Management has not yet submitted to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment a document to handle the problem of calculating and deducting the value of agricultural land use rights between the departure and arrival places of the Hua Na Hydropower resettlement project.

Meanwhile, the wish of the people in the resettlement areas is for the government and the investor of the Hua Na Hydropower project to promptly handle the difference in land use rights value between the departure and destination areas. The delay causes the people to lose their rights, leading to frustration.

Graphics: Minh Quan.

District chairman writes a letter!

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Que Phong district also said that due to the long-standing problems and obstacles in the Hua Na Hydropower resettlement project, in early October 2019, he wrote a letter to the provincial leaders.

In the letter, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Que Phong district stated the current situation at resettlement sites as follows:“…Up to now (end of September 2019), the resettlement compensation work has not been completed, such as: Reclamation of rice fields, allocation of agricultural land (land for annual production), especially excluding land types at departure and destination; On the other hand, many works have been degraded such as: Domestic water systems, schools, medical stations, community cultural houses, roads... without funding for maintenance and repair. The lives of people in resettlement areas are currently facing many difficulties, with a high risk of re-poverty, causing many consequences and social evils...”.

Regarding the land deduction plan and difficulties, the letter stated:“The land deduction plan for the people has been agreed upon by Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company to be detailed for each type of land. The district has completed the plan and approved, publicized and paid money to 261 households of 5/13 resettlement sites. However, in May 2019, Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company sent a document to the Provincial People's Committee requesting to calculate the land deduction plan to determine the total value of all types of land at the departure place to offset the total value of all types of land at the destination place; the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to advise; on July 23, 2019, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment sent a document asking for opinions from the General Department of Land Management (on August 14, 2019, the General Department of Land Management responded with an Official Dispatch). During this period, the District People's Committee had 4 Documents reporting to the Provincial People's Committee stating its views on the settlement. On September 11, 2019, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment issued Official Dispatch No. 5065/STNMT-QLDD reported to the Provincial People's Committee, proposing 3 options, which clearly expressed the Department's viewpoint similar to the option of Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company. On September 26, 2019, the Provincial People's Committee held a meeting without deciding on the option but assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to coordinate with the District People's Committee to consult and ask for opinions from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment...

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Que Phong district expressed his concern:“...Currently, people in resettlement areas are facing many difficulties in life and have to wait too long, causing frustration among the people...”.

Officials of the Huoi Cha La resettlement site representing the people reflected the petition contents. Photo: Nhat Lan

Wait until when?

Regarding the implementation of land use right deduction for Hua Na Hydropower project, in September 2019, Nghe An Electronic Newspaper informed through many articles such as: "Post-resettlement of Hua Na hydropower plant: The road is long and the pain is still long”, “It is necessary to ensure fairness for households resettled by Hua Na Hydropower Plant.”, “What does Que Phong district say about the post-resettlement issue of Hua Na Hydropower Plant??”.

To verify the information exchanged by the leaders of Que Phong district, Nghe An Newspaper reporters contacted the agency that advised on the document handling the problem of deducting the value of land use rights for the Hua Na Hydropower project, the Department of Economics and Land Fund Development (General Department of Land Management). A responsible officer of the Department confirmed that the document had been drafted and submitted to the leaders of the General Department of Land Management; whether the leaders of the General Department had submitted it to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment or not needs to be checked.

Regarding the viewpoint of implementing the deduction of land use rights value between the departure and arrival places of the Hua Na Hydropower resettlement project, this officer said that it was stated in Official Dispatch No. 1549/TCQLDD dated August 14, 2019 of the General Department of Land Management, which is "to ensure compliance with the provisions of the law and ensure the rights of the people". In the new document, the spirit is to clarify and detail the contents stated in the previous document. However, this officer reminded: "The Department is a specialized agency, and has submitted a draft document like that. I do not know whether the General Department's leaders have made any changes or sought additional opinions from other agencies. We need to wait for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to issue the document, then we will have opinions...".

A corner of the Huoi Cha La resettlement site. Photo: Nhat Lan