Forged documents for land lease on the banks of the Vach Bac canal?

(Baonghean) - Through verifying the situation of unauthorized land allocation and disorderly construction within the flood drainage area of ​​Vach Bac canal, in Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh, Nghe An Newspaper reporters found a suspected case of forging the signature and seal of the Irrigation Enterprise of Bac Irrigation One Member Co., Ltd. to illegally lease land, but from 2014 until now, relevant levels and sectors have not clarified and handled it.

Obvious error

Up to now, within the flood discharge area of ​​Vach Bac canal, the section passing through Do Thanh commune, there are 208 cases of land use. Of these, 157 cases are for housing construction; 45 cases have not been completed, and 6 cases are for warehouse construction.

According to the report of Yen Thanh District People's Committee, from the 80s - 90s of the last century, Do Thanh Commune People's Committee illegally allocated land (with money collection) to 168 households for production and business purposes, one household was arbitrarily leased land by the hamlet, one household had a land lease application with the approval of the former Party Secretary;

In addition, there are 4 households that were "leased" land by the focal enterprise under the Northern Irrigation Company Limited... 168 households were assigned land by the People's Committee of Do Thanh commune, and have divided the plots and transferred them into 196 households; and 4 households were "leased" land by the focal enterprise (under the Northern Irrigation Company Limited), and have divided the plots and transferred them into 8 households.

Mr. Vo Sy Thang - Deputy Director of Bac Irrigation Company Limited exchanged information with Nghe An Newspaper reporter. Photo by Nhat Lan.

Regarding the incident of the Irrigation Enterprise illegally leasing land, according to the leader of the Northern Irrigation Company, there are a total of 5 households that have documents showing that they were leased land by the previous leaders of the Company and the Enterprise. It is worth mentioning that among them, there are households that are "owning" land lease documents but are suspected to be forged.

Regarding the issue of suspected document forgery, the leader of the Northern Irrigation Company Limited said that in early 2013, an officer of the Bau Du Irrigation Cluster (under the Irrigation Enterprise) discovered a case of land encroachment within the flood discharge area of ​​the Vach Bac canal. Upon inspection, the household of Nguyen Van Duong (Gia My hamlet, Do Thanh) presented a land lease document from the Irrigation Enterprise, made in March 2010, signed by Director Cao Dang Bai, and stamped by the Enterprise. Because the Director's signature was found to be unusual, this officer reported it to the Company.

The Northern Irrigation Company Limited and the Irrigation Enterprise have conducted the verification. Accordingly, Mr. Nguyen Van Duong was leased a 40m long plot of land along the bank of the Vach Bac canal by the Irrigation Enterprise for a period of 20 years (from April 1, 2010) with a cost of 15 million VND at the time of land lease.

The land lease contract was made through Mr. Phan Van Phuong, the Head of Cluster N18A (under the Irrigation Enterprise). Mr. Duong paid the land lease to Mr. Phuong in 3 installments (each installment was 5 million VND). At the final payment, Mr. Phuong handed over a land lease confirmation document with the red seal of the Irrigation Enterprise and the signature of Director Cao Dang Bai. During the entire process of money transfer and receipt, there was no invoice or receipt.

Doubting the authenticity of the land lease document, on May 15, 2013, the Northern Irrigation Company Limited and the Irrigation Enterprise verified through Mr. Cao Dang Bai (now retired). In the Land Lease Confirmation Document provided by Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, Mr. Cao Dang Bai wrote: “The Irrigation Enterprise was established on January 1, 2005. At that time, comrade Phan Van Phuong was appointed by the Company as Head of the Administrative Organization Department and the unit’s seal. As for the signature in this document, I, Cao Dang Bai, who was then the Director of the enterprise, did not sign this signature.” Mr. Cao Dang Bai did sign the confirmation, and this signature was very different from the signature on the document leasing the land to Mr. Duong.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duong's land plot has been transferred to many households to build on the flood drainage area of ​​Vach Bac canal. Photo: Pham Bang

Deputy Director of the Northern Irrigation Company, Mr. Vo Sy Thang and Director of the Irrigation Enterprise, Mr. Nguyen Van Le, confirmed that, in response to the suspicion of forging documents for illegal land lease, their unit had transferred related documents to the Yen Thanh District Police since 2014, hoping for an investigation to clarify. They also said that the nature of the case was very complicated, because from 5 households with land lease documents, they had now split and transferred into 9 households, and they were carrying out illegal construction.

Need to be handled seriously

Regarding the suspected case of forging the signature of the leader and using the seal of the Irrigation Enterprise to lease land, on May 22, 2014, the People's Committee of Do Thanh commune issued Report No. 18/BC-UBND to the People's Committee of Yen Thanh district, stating that Mr. Nguyen Van Duong had dumped soil to encroach on the bank of Vach Bac canal and that he had a land lease confirmation from the Irrigation Enterprise; at the same time, requesting the People's Committee of Yen Thanh district, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Department of Industry and Trade and related departments to provide guidance to ensure stability of the situation on the Vach Bac dike.

On May 26, 2014, in Official Dispatch No. 568/UBND, the Chairman of Yen Thanh District People's Committee directed: "Assign the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to preside over and coordinate with the Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Head of the District Police to work with Bac Irrigation Company Limited and the People's Committee of Do Thanh Commune to clarify the case, advise the District People's Committee on solutions before June 5, 2014".

However, this incident has not been clarified yet. Responding to a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper, Chairman of Yen Thanh District People's Committee, Mr. Phan Van Tuyen said that as his successor, facing the complexity of land management and disorder in construction on the dike roof of Vach Bac canal, on April 25, 2017, the District People's Committee held a meeting to find a solution. After inspecting the district and departments, Do Thanh commune reported the incident in detail; it directed to clarify the violations for handling according to the provisions of law.

Hundreds of houses of Do Thanh commune residents were built on the flood discharge area of ​​Vach Bac canal. Photo: Nhat Lan

In terms of land leasing cases related to the Northern Irrigation Company Limited and the Irrigation Enterprise, on May 5, 2017, in Notice No. 178/TB-UBND, the Chairman of the Yen Thanh District People's Committee directed: "Assign the District Inspectorate to coordinate with the People's Committee of Do Thanh Commune and the Northern Irrigation Company Limited to collect land allocation and land leasing documents to transfer to the District Police for consideration and handling before May 15, 2017. Based on the transferred documents, the District Police will be assigned to handle them based on the provisions of law. After receiving the conclusion of the police, the District People's Committee will develop a specific handling plan...".

However, it is still a concern whether this directive will be implemented, or will it repeat the situation like the 2014 directive of the previous District Chairman?

Affirming that the suspicion of forging the signature of the leader and illegally using the seal of the Irrigation Enterprise is quite clear. And with the person who "leased" the land not being able to present invoices or receipts, it proves that the individuals involved in this case illegally leased the land for personal gain.

Therefore, we cannot equate the cases related to the Northern Irrigation Company Limited and the Irrigation Enterprise with the cases of land allocation beyond the authority of the People's Committee of Do Thanh commune from 1995 onwards. We need to investigate and clarify, thereby strictly handling them according to the provisions of the law; only then can we rectify the situation of land encroachment within the flood discharge area of ​​the Vach Bac canal!

Nhat Lan - Pham Bang