Nearly 400 households along the Khe Bo hydroelectric reservoir are anxiously waiting for their land ownership certificates.

The problem stems from the cost of surveying.

For many years, hundreds of households have lived along the banks of Lake T.cancel Khe Bo power plant(Tuong Duong district) has repeatedly petitioned for the early revision of land management records so that they can be granted land use right certificates. These are households whose land was partially flooded after the hydropower plant began impounding water in 2013.

"In almost every meeting with constituents, people have raised this issue. We have also made recommendations many times in meetings, but it has not been resolved yet," said Ms. Lo Thi Tra My, Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Xa Luong commune.

According to our investigation, after the Khe Bo Hydropower Plant began impounding water, in addition to households that had to relocate to resettlement areas due to complete flooding, there were also 398 plots of land belonging to 398 households that were partially affected but did not need to be relocated. Of these, Xa Luong commune has 130 households, Thach Giam town has 183 households, Tam Thai commune has 63 households, and Yen Thang commune has 22 households.

Following numerous requests from residents, in November 2020, the investor signed a contract with a consulting company to carry out the project. However, the consulting firm's documentation was not approved by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment due to changes in the lake's boundary during the water impoundment process, requiring adjustments. Therefore, the consulting firm's work in issuing land use right certificates to households could not meet the requirements.

According to the leaders of Tuong Duong District People's Committee, to resolve this issue, on May 8, 2024, the investor held a meeting with the Tuong Duong District People's Committee, the Nghe An Provincial Land Registration Office, and the District Branch of the Land Registration Office. Accordingly, the investor requested the District Branch of the Land Registration Office to assist in a pilot program for issuing land use right certificates to 8 households in Xieng Huong village, Xa Luong commune. The pilot program has now been completed. For the remaining households, the investor has sent a document to the Nghe An Provincial Land Registration Office requesting assistance in developing a plan for implementation.

However, in a recent report, Mr. Nguyen Huu Hien – Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district – stated that, according to the regulations of the Provincial People's Committee, the cost of supporting the adjustment of land management records should not exceed 300,000 VND per household, paid by the investor to the competent land management agency. The investor has also agreed to carry out all the work of adjusting land management records for the households and has approved an amount of 882 million VND.

However, according to the plan drawn up by the Land Registration Office, the estimated cost to complete the issuance of land ownership certificates to the households is 1.2 billion VND (equivalent to approximately 2.4 million VND per household), which far exceeds the regulations set by the Provincial People's Committee. "Therefore, the decision to proceed or not proceed is beyond the authority of the investor as well as the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district," Mr. Hien said.

Continue to request compensation for land above the flood level.

Also related to the rights of people affected by hydropower projects, Mr. Nguyen Phung Hung - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Tuong Duong district, said that recently the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued a document responding to the resolution of compensation and support issues for land above the flood level for the Ban Ve Hydropower Project. Accordingly, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development does not agree to compensate for land outside the project (land above the flood level).

Previously, after Tuong Duong district submitted a proposal, the People's Committee of Nghe An province repeatedly sent documents requesting ministries and agencies to allow the development of a plan for compensation and support for land above the flood level.

“Although the land above the flood level is outside the project area, the households with land there must be relocated according to the project's policy. They cannot stay or return to cultivate on this land. Therefore, land acquisition, compensation, or some other policy to support the people must be implemented,” said Mr. Nguyen Phung Hung, adding that in the coming time, the locality will continue to review and report to the competent authorities to seek opinions on handling the land for residential, agricultural, and forestry purposes above the flood level, to ensure the legitimate rights of the people, and at the same time, to serve as a basis for compensating for the difference in relocation, similar to households below the flood level.

Promptly compensate for the difference in departure and arrival locations.

Nearly 20 years ago, to make way for the construction of the Ban Ve Hydropower Plant, four communes in Tuong Duong district were wiped out, and 2,910 local households were subject to relocation. Most of these households were allocated land by the government, and two new communes in Thanh Chuong district, Ngoc Lam and Thanh Son, were established to relocate them. According to our investigation, 236 households later expressed a desire to relocate freely and received compensation and support for their land. However, more than 2,000 households who moved to the resettlement areas in Ngoc Lam and Thanh Son have yet to receive compensation for the difference in land value between their original location and the new one.

In 2018, the People's Committee of Tuong Duong District completed the review of land data for relocation sites in the reservoir area (including land above and below the flood level) and publicly solicited opinions from the people in the resettlement area of ​​Thanh Chuong District. However, no compensation plan was subsequently developed because the resettlement areas in Thanh Chuong District at that time lacked data on land at the new location as the issuance of land certificates to residents had not been completed. Therefore, there was no data to calculate the difference in land value between the original and new locations.

According to the leaders of Tuong Duong District People's Committee, the responsibility lies with the hydropower project investor and Thanh Chuong District People's Committee for not completing the legal land documents at the resettlement areas to compensate for the difference in land value between the original location and the new location as stipulated by law.

According to the leaders of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee, the land allocation process for issuing land use right certificates has not been completed because the review and rebalancing of the entire agricultural land area previously allocated to households has not been finished. Furthermore, after the review, it was found that the actual land area used by households differs significantly from the previously recorded land allocation documents.

"After obtaining land data for resettlement areas in Thanh Chuong district, the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district will coordinate with Thanh Chuong district and the investor to implement the project," said Mr. Nguyen Huu Hien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district.