Chairman of Que Phong district writes a letter hoping to help resettle people at Hua Na Hydropower Plant

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

(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 some 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 locations 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.

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 provide direction 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 locations. 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, the People's Committee of Que Phong district 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 the people; on compensation calculation, support for balancing and deducting the value of land use rights 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 proposal 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 rights 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 reporting to the Provincial People's Committee and advising 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 direction 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 difficulties in calculating and deducting 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 issued any documents guiding the handling of the difficulties.

The delay in handling the problems in the process of calculating the value of agricultural land use rights between the departure and destination 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 proposed that the Provincial People's Committee continue to issue a document requesting the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to provide written instructions so that Que Phong district has a basis to continue calculating the value of agricultural land use rights between the departure and destination 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 problems and difficulties 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 Que Phong District People's Committee stated the current situation at resettlement sites as follows:“…Up to now (end of September 2019), the compensation and resettlement 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 funds for maintenance and repair. The lives of people in resettlement areas are currently facing many difficulties, with a high risk of falling back into 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 location to offset the total value of all types of land at the destination location; 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 sent a reply document). During this period, the District People's Committee sent 4 documents to the Provincial People's Committee stating its viewpoints 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, clearly showing 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 seek opinions from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment...".

The Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee 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 reported through many articles such as: "Post-resettlement of Hua Na hydropower plant: The road is long and the pain is long”, “Need to ensure fairness for households resettled in 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 official 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 legal regulations 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 official 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