Nghe An National Assembly Delegation discusses in Groups the draft Land Law (amended)

Overview of the working session on the morning of June 9 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Nam An

Speaking at the discussion, delegate Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province pointed out the shortcomings in the process of land recovery according to the provisions of the Land Law; accordingly, the two mechanisms include: the State recovers land and the project investor negotiates with the land user.

According to delegate Thai Thanh Quy, the implementation of these two mechanisms has been creating inadequacies and conflicts of interest between State management and the people, as well as between project investors and the people; which the Land Law at different stages has not yet resolved.

Overview of the discussion session at Group 3 on the morning of June 9. Photo: Nam An

Because when the State reclaims land, it follows the prescribed price list; but when the project investor negotiates with the land user, it is up to the two parties to negotiate. This creates unfairness between two residential areas, often only separated by a road or fence because on one side the project is reclaimed by the State and on the other side the enterprise negotiates.

Even the application of these two mechanisms is carried out in the same project such as: Rest stop project associated with petroleum business; in which the land recovered for petroleum business is recovered by the State; and the land for building the rest stop is agreed upon by the enterprise; or building a people's market associated with a commercial center, in which the land for building the people's market is recovered by the State, and the land for building the commercial center is agreed upon by the enterprise...

From the above practice, land recovery is difficult, slowing down the progress of public investment, especially in key projects, projects for national interests, national security and defense. However, the draft Land Law (amended) still includes the two land recovery mechanisms above, this is an issue that needs to be studied to resolve the above shortcomings.

Delegate Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province spoke at the discussion. Photo: Phan Hau

Regarding this content, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee Nguyen Van Chi said that in order to thoroughly resolve the issue, it is necessary to minimize or not conduct bidding to select investors, but basically all cases should be auctioned to ensure that the added value of land is returned to the State budget.

Discussing the draft Land Law (amended), delegate Hoang Thi Thu Hien - Permanent Vice President of the Women's Union of Nghe An province proposed to add the content that people will be supported for resettlement when they have to relocate to serve biodiversity conservation and environmental protection, in addition to resettlement support when the State recovers for national defense and security purposes, socio-economic development for national and community goals as in the draft law. Because in reality, when implementing activities to relocate people out of special-use forests, it is very difficult to arrange residential land and production land.

Delegate Nguyen Van Chi - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee speaks at the discussion. Photo: Phan Hau

Regarding support after land acquisition such as: Support for employment, production, and business, the delegate of Nghe An delegation also said that it should be replaced by compensation regulations, to have higher legality; as well as the law must strictly stipulate the requirement to complete resettlement arrangements before land acquisition.

Regarding the principles of compensation and resettlement support when reclaiming land, the draft is proposing to assign the Government to regulate in detail. However, according to delegate Hoang Thi Thu Hien, it should be discussed carefully to include all issues related to viewpoints in the law, to avoid complaints during implementation. Because mentioning principles means talking about viewpoints; and viewpoints must be stable and govern specific activities.

Delegate Hoang Thi Thu Hien - Permanent Vice President of Nghe An Women's Union spoke at the discussion. Photo: Nam An

Mr. Tran Nhat Minh - full-time National Assembly delegate from Nghe An delegation said that the draft Land Law (amended) still has quite general provisions, not clearly defining the subjects for collecting opinions from the community and other individuals related to planning and land use plans. According to the delegate, it is necessary to put people in the center to collect opinions when developing planning and land use plans; therefore, the law should stipulate that people in the planning and land use plan areas are allowed to collect opinions on planning and land use plans.

In addition, to enable people to monitor land use planning and plans, delegates proposed adding a regulation that when local adjustments to land use planning and plans are made, they must also be publicly posted so that people can understand them, avoiding the situation where only the initial planning is announced, but when adjusted, people do not understand.

The delegates also requested the drafting agency to study more clearly some contents in the regulations on performing compensation and site clearance tasks; avoid generalities and ambiguities; especially some procedures need the presence and supervision of representatives of the People's Council, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations.

Mr. Tran Nhat Minh also requested the drafting agency to clearly stipulate the specific procedures for compulsory inventory, such as the procedures for compulsory land recovery, and to stipulate the responsibility of the police force to maintain order and safety during the enforcement process; to ensure feasibility during implementation.

Mr. Tran Nhat Minh - full-time National Assembly delegate of Nghe An delegation spoke at the discussion. Photo: Phan Hau

Regarding the organization of implementation of planning and land use plans, delegate Thai Thi An Chung - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, suggested that it should not be stipulated that land users who need to renovate or repair existing houses or constructions must be permitted by competent state agencies according to the provisions of law in cases where there is a district-level land use plan. Because in reality, through meetings with voters, it is seen that the problem of "hanging" planning leads to very difficult lives for people, especially related to house repair and construction.

Regarding the regulations on support when the State reclaims land, delegate Thai Thi An Chung proposed adding regulations on support for education; and also clearly distinguishing between compensation and support cases in the regulations on compensation and support for livestock and crops when reclaiming land.

The draft Law also stipulates that one of the principles for determining land prices is to ensure independence between the consulting organization, the Land Price List Appraisal Council, the specific Land Price Appraisal Council and the agency or person with the authority to decide on land prices.

However, through the study of the regulations on the composition of the Land Price Appraisal Council, the Land Price Appraisal Council is basically the same in terms of members. Therefore, the delegates expressed concerns about ensuring independence. On the other hand, with the regulation that the total number of members of the Land Price Appraisal Council must have at least 50% of the members being appraisers or price appraisers, the delegates also said that this regulation will be difficult to ensure feasibility because the number of price appraisers is not large. Delegate Thai Thi An Chung also suggested that the Land Law (amended) this time should supplement regulations on land use regime for economic zone land.