Expedite the transfer of agricultural and forestry land to the people.

(Baonghean.vn) - Outstanding debts in new rural construction; accelerating the transfer of forest land to people lacking land for production… were the issues that provincial People's Council delegates from group number 4 focused on discussing on the afternoon of August 3rd.

Attending the discussion were Mr. Nguyen Van Thong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, a representative of the Provincial People's Council elected in the Con Cuong constituency; and representatives of the Provincial People's Council from the constituencies of Nghia Dan, Quy Hop, and Con Cuong districts. Mr. Vi Van Son - Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Con Cuong district, chaired the discussion session.

Building sustainable new rural areas.

Speaking at the discussion, Mr. Nguyen Van Thong, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and a representative of the Provincial People's Council elected in Con Cuong district, assessed that the province has a relatively large number of communes achieving new rural status, with an average of 12.4 criteria per commune. This demonstrates the determination, decisiveness, and appropriate solutions of the entire political system and the people.

However, the issue raised by delegate Nguyen Van Thong is the large amount of outstanding debt in the new rural development program, concentrated in a few communes. "The annual revenue of the commune budgets is negligible, so this burden persists," delegate Thong worried.

Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Thong speaks at the group discussion session.

Another issue raised by Mr. Nguyen Van Thong was the consistency and genuine quality of the new rural development program. “The new rural development program is based on three pillars: economy, culture, and social security. However, in some communes that have achieved the new rural development status, although per capita income has increased, security is not guaranteed. The occurrence of theft and violence is a cause for concern,” said delegate Nguyen Van Thong.

Based on that reality, delegate Nguyen Van Thong asked: Are we chasing annual targets? And he suggested: We need to implement the new rural development program with appropriate progress, paying attention to quality and uniformity across the three pillars.

Rural road construction in Tao Son commune, Anh Son district. Photo courtesy of Luong Mai.

Regarding this issue, delegate Nguyen Dinh Minh - Chairman of the Provincial Veterans Association, and a delegate of the Provincial People's Council elected in Quy Hop district - also expressed concern about outstanding debts in the construction of new rural areas; and suggested that solutions are needed to support mountainous communes, which are largely in more difficult conditions than many communes in the lowlands.

Agreeing with the above opinions, Ms. Lai Thi Bich Lien - Vice Chairwoman of the Nghia Dan District People's Council - suggested that a suitable roadmap for implementing the new rural development program should be developed to ensure feasibility and suitability to the people's capabilities, avoiding outstanding debts.

Transferring forest land to local people is still slow.

This issue was raised by many delegates during the discussion session of Group 4. Chairman of the Quy Hop District People's Committee, Nguyen Dinh Tung, assessed that the review, arrangement, and use of agricultural and forestry land still have shortcomings. Regarding land disputes with agricultural and forestry farms, Quy Hop has a case that resulted in the sentencing of four citizens, with the longest sentence being 7 years in prison.

Representative Nguyen Dinh Minh speaks at the discussion session.

The transfer of agricultural and forestry land to the people is a policy that the Party and State have adopted. The province has addressed the issue, but "I see slow progress. There are meetings and decisive directives, but progress on the ground is slow. Agricultural and forestry farms still underestimate the role of the district and commune. I propose that working groups should be established with the district and commune to expedite the transfer of agricultural and forestry land to people who do not yet have land for production. Because if this issue is not handled carefully, it will disrupt security and order and lead to numerous complaints," Mr. Tung expressed his concern.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hoang Dinh Tuan, Secretary of the District Party Committee and Chairman of the District People's Council of Con Cuong district, said that voters in the district have also raised this issue. Currently, some areas of land belonging to Con Cuong Forestry Company Limited have undergone procedures to return the land. However, although the documents were submitted a long time ago, there has been no progress in resolving the issue for the people.

Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Thong, in his speech during the discussion, also expressed his impatience regarding this issue, noting that although the process has been initiated, the review and handling progress is still somewhat slow, affecting the people. "The Provincial People's Council needs to request the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments to quickly review and reallocate land to farmers, especially in mountainous areas," urged delegate Nguyen Van Thong.

In addition, during the discussion session, delegates also offered opinions on environmental protection, resolving difficulties in implementing Decree 67 for fishermen, supporting Con Cuong in building an ecological urban area, and addressing difficulties for businesses...

Thanh Duy - Phan Hoang Vu