Clearing the land on National Highway 1A: The entire political system is involved

(Baonghean) - In the project to upgrade National Highway 1A from Hanoi to Can Tho, the route from Thanh Hoa to Can Tho was implemented since June 2010. Thanks to the synchronous and drastic participation, up to now, some provinces have completed over 50% of the site clearance, including Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Thua Thien Hue, and Quang Nam. In Nghe An, immediately after the groundbreaking ceremony, together with the investor, local Party committees and authorities mobilized the entire political system to participate, actively implementing measures to speed up the site clearance and handover to the investor.

Determining that site clearance is always a sensitive and difficult step, along with propaganda and mobilization of people to understand the importance of the project to the country, to the socio-economic development of the province and the interests of the people themselves, the work of organizing land surveying, counting assets, architectural objects, trees and setting compensation prices is also seriously implemented by all levels, sectors and localities in accordance with regulations. Specifically, immediately after receiving the policy of the Provincial People's Committee, the Site Clearance Steering Committee of Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc districts, Vinh City and since mid-2013, Hoang Mai Town (separated from Quynh Luu district) - where National Highway 1A passes through, has organized meetings to propose solutions to speed up site clearance work, assign specific responsibilities, clearly assign tasks and determine the completion time. At the same time, local Party committees and authorities from district to commune have increased dialogue in many forms, resolved recommendations and problems, to hand over the site on schedule as committed. Along with that, the People's Committees and the Land Acquisition Councils of localities have established land acquisition working groups from district to grassroots levels. Party committees and authorities have held expanded executive committee meetings, military-civilian conferences, considering land acquisition as the number one political task, organizing many dialogues to remove obstacles in the handover of site at hot spots occurring in the area.

The Compensation Council of Dien Chau district had a dialogue with the people of Dien An commune on February 20, 2014. Photo: Thanh Nga

With 85% of the site handed over to the construction unit, Quynh Luu is considered the leading district in land acquisition and compensation. To achieve this result, right from the policy, the Party Committee directed the Land Acquisition and Compensation Council to quickly deploy tasks, focusing on disseminating and popularizing policies on land acquisition and compensation so that people can understand correctly and comply with the provisions of the law and the State.

Cau Giat Town - is one of the leading units in the work of handing over and clearing land in Quynh Luu district. The local Party Committee and government have issued Resolution 10 on accelerating the progress of handing over land clearance on National Highway 1A through the area to direct political organizations, unions, and associations to disseminate and propagate to members and members to properly implement the policies set forth in the above Resolution. In addition, the people of the Town are also well aware that upgrading National Highway 1A is first of all beneficial to the people and their own locality. When the road is completed and put into use, people along the route will no longer suffer from environmental pollution caused by dust and traffic accidents and congestion. At the same time, the people of the town mainly work in the service business, so having a large and beautiful road will be more convenient for trading. Mr. Nguyen Van Tan - Secretary of Cau Giat Town Party Committee said: “National Highway 1A section through Cau Giat, 2.1km long, has 152 affected households within the traffic safety area. However, thanks to the synchronous participation of the entire political system, all affected households have completed handing over the site. Typically, 16 households voluntarily dismantled before receiving compensation. To achieve that result, the Party Committee, government and people of the Town have promoted the spirit of implementing Directive 03; at the same time, with the pride and self-respect of the children of the heroic land, there have been exemplary leaders in properly implementing the policies of the District Party Committee. Those exemplary leaders have spread the spirit of serving the common good, serving the national interest among the people of the Town”. Among them is the household of Mrs. Bui Thi Nham K5 - Cau Giat Town - Owner of Quy - Ngoc Jewelry Store, whose 4m length was affected. Although she has not received compensation yet, her family has voluntarily dismantled the kiosk and other permanent assets on the land of the traffic safety corridor. Talking to us, Mrs. Nham said: "When the block leader informed all households whose land was affected, my husband and I discussed and decided to dismantle the construction on this land early to promptly hand over the site to the commune government. I think people must be aware that upgrading this vital road is for the national interest and also for their own benefit."

In order for the propaganda work to reach the people, the staff of the Compensation Council for Land Acquisition and Site Clearance in Quynh Luu district determined that, first of all, it is necessary to be public and transparent in examining and explaining the technical measurement records. Mr. Nguyen Van Quy - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee - Chairman of the Compensation Council for Land Acquisition and Site Clearance said: "The district has considered the work of clearing the National Highway 1A as an urgent, difficult and important political task, so it requires high determination from the entire political system. Currently, we are continuing to propagate, mobilize and disseminate the policies of the Party and State to households that have not yet signed the records in Quynh Van and Quynh Giang, urgently resolving petitions and complaints to quickly clear hot spots, ensuring the progress of the compensation work".

Comrade Huynh Thanh Dien - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee inspected the construction of National Highway 1A through Nghi Loc district.

Like Quynh Luu, in Nghi Loc district, the political system from the district to the grassroots level has taken urgent and drastic action. The entire district has 13.96km of National Highway 1A, 10.1km of which has been handed over, completing 72% of the work. To achieve this result, officials of the Compensation Council for Land Clearance and Clearance had to "go to every alley, knock on every door" with the hope of receiving the consensus of the people. As an area with many items supporting compensation for land clearance, including 5.7km of new openings with 96 households having to relocate to 9 resettlement areas, the work of propaganda and compensation for land clearance and clearance is more difficult than in other areas. Realizing that, officials of the Compensation Council for Land Clearance and Clearance have regularly updated policies and guidelines on land clearance and clearance to disseminate and propagate to the people. Mr. Nguyen Ba Diep - Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment - Vice Chairman of the Compensation Council for Land Acquisition and Site Clearance in Nghi Loc District said: "In order for people to clearly understand the inventory and pricing of compensation for land acquisition and site clearance, we have photocopied the provisions of the Land Law, the provisions in Decision 04, Decision 10 related to compensation policies for land acquisition and site clearance, explained in detail why the plot of land of this household owner was compensated at such a price and applied the prices that are advantageous to the household owner". Thanks to that, many people have clearly understood the policy and agreed with and supported the government in clearing the land for National Highway 1A. Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung - Bac Son 1 hamlet - Nghi Quang commune - is one of the households that voluntarily demolished their houses in the affected area, said: "At first, I did not agree with the compensation level for the property on my land, but when the officials explained the price according to the legal documents of the Party and the State, I understood that the local officials had done their best for the people. I decided to comply so that we could soon have a new, wide road, reducing the traffic accidents that occur every day on National Highway 1A."

Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung's household in Bac Xuan 1 hamlet, Nghi Quang commune voluntarily dismantled assets within the traffic safety corridor.

The Nghi Loc District Land Acquisition and Compensation Council has also actively coordinated with religious dignitaries and officials in mobilizing, propagating, and dialogue with households that have not yet agreed with policies and guidelines. For example, in the case of Mr. Nguyen Van Binh and 10 households in Hamlet 4, Nghi Yen who have not yet accepted resettlement because they still have questions about the compensation support price, the Nghi Loc District Land Acquisition and Compensation Council, the Nghi Yen Commune Land Acquisition and Compensation Subcommittee, coordinated with Father Hoang Duc Nhan - Parish Priest of La Nham Parish to organize direct dialogues with the people. At hot spots, officials of the Land Acquisition and Compensation Council from the district to the grassroots level have also visited each household directly to grasp the situation and have solutions to resolve the problems. Typically, the households of Mr. Phung Ba Tue and Phung Ba Thiep are currently in a land dispute, the officials of the Land Acquisition and Compensation Council have reviewed and reviewed the records and directly advised so that Mr. Tue can be resettled soon.

It can be said that, with the active propaganda and mobilization of people to understand the importance and benefits of the project of national significance, along with the synchronous, urgent and drastic solutions of the entire political system, the site clearance work has been agreed and supported by most people living along National Highway 1A in the districts and towns. Therefore, many households subject to clearance, although not yet receiving compensation, are ready to hand over the site to the units to quickly implement the construction. However, compared to the two provinces of Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh, the site clearance progress of Nghe An is slower. Specifically, the 62.7km section of National Highway 1A through Thanh Hoa has now cleared 53.04km, reaching 85%. The 76.44km section through Ha Tinh has cleared 69.35km, reaching 90.7%, while up to this point Nghe An has only reached 79.0%. The reason is that some areas with National Highway 1A passing through our province have a large population and a high resettlement rate, so the work of relocation, compensation and support for site clearance is more difficult and complicated.

Up to now, Nghe An is one of 12 provinces that have met the conditions to use the State budget to carry out the site clearance work with the disbursement/arrangement cost of 367.82/559.81 billion VND (reaching 65.70%). Currently, 58.9/73.8km of land has been handed over. This result demonstrates the great efforts of the entire political system and the consensus and support of the majority of people, but currently the site clearance work is still facing many difficulties and obstacles that need to be resolved.

(To be continued)

PV Group