Explaining the current situation of lack of construction materials and production land in mountainous areas of Nghe An

On the afternoon of December 5, the 25th session of the 18th Provincial People's Council held a discussion in the hall.

Provincial leaders attending the event included Nguyen Duc Trung - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Nguyen Van Thong - former Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, delegate of the Provincial People's Council; Vo Thi Minh Sinh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province and other members of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, Provincial Party Executive Committee, Vice Chairmen of the Provincial People's Council, Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation.

Comrades: Hoang Nghia Hieu - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council chaired the meeting.

Discussing the 2024 socio-economic report, delegate Tran Dinh Toan (Do Luong unit) stated that among the 28 main socio-economic targets, there is 1 environmental target that is assessed as difficult to achieve.

In localities, many landfills pollute the environment but have not been resolved, causing public outrage. Delegate Tran Dinh Toan requested the Provincial People's Committee to pay attention and allocate funds to handle these polluted spots.

According to delegate Toan, mountainous districts are currently lacking construction materials, an issue that has been reported by Nghe An Newspaper many times. The fact that mountainous districts have to buy materials from the lowlands and then transport them up causes waste, damage to infrastructure, increases capital, and prolongs the progress of National Target Programs. Therefore, it is recommended that there should be a solution to resolve this situation soon.

Explaining and clarifying the issue of concern to delegates, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Hoang Quoc Viet said that in 2024, there was one target for the rate of handling environmental pollution facilities that had not been met according to regulations.

Specifically, currently in the province there are 5/42 facilities that seriously pollute the environment but have not been thoroughly treated. They are Nghe An Oncology Hospital, Dong Vinh landfill, Cua Lo landfill, Tan Ky landfill, Thai Duong pig farm in Do Luong district.

Regarding the Thai Duong pig farm in Do Luong district, which has been inactive for a long time, the Department has urged the company many times but the company has not completed the procedures to remove it from the list of facilities causing serious environmental pollution. The Department is focusing on working with the company to soon remove this pig farm from the list of facilities causing serious environmental pollution.

For the remaining 4 facilities, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has advised the Provincial People's Committee to direct investors to focus on allocating budgets to handle these facilities that pollute the environment.

Regarding the issue of construction materials, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Hoang Quoc Viet said that this is a story that has been known for a long time. The 2010 Mineral Law stipulates that construction material mines must be auctioned. From 2019-2020, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment coordinated with the Department of Construction to advise the Provincial People's Committee on planning soil, stone and sand mines in mountainous areas, then organized many auctions but very few businesses participated.

Discussing solutions, the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that in the past, the Department has guided districts and investors to facilitate the implementation of mining projects within the scope of projects and works to serve landfilling, and some districts such as Anh Son and Con Cuong have done well.

Regarding sand, Mr. Hoang Quoc Viet said that the mountainous rivers are very steep, so it is difficult to accumulate sand. Some locations had sand when they were planned to be put up for auction, but when they started to exploit it, the sand flowed away. Currently, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has advised the Provincial People's Committee to report to the Government to amend Decree No. 32 to be able to exploit sand in the hydroelectric reservoir, serving projects in mountainous areas.

Currently, the provincial planning is available, and the planning of mines in mountainous districts is very complete. In the coming time, when the Mineral Law is amended, the procedures for auctioning and granting construction material mines will be simpler, so it is recommended that districts coordinate with departments and branches to promote and mobilize businesses to participate in auctions of construction material mines.

Regarding the issue of agricultural and forestry land, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Hoang Quoc Viet stated that in 2023, the Provincial People's Council conducted a question-and-answer session on the management and use of agricultural and forestry land. After that, the Department chaired and coordinated with relevant agencies to advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue a plan to implement the announcement of the Provincial People's Council.

The Provincial People's Committee has assigned specific responsibilities to the sectors in the management of agricultural and forestry land. Currently, agricultural and forestry companies have improved production efficiency and increased land use value.

In 2024, the Department advised the Provincial People's Committee to reclaim 107.3 hectares of land from agricultural and forestry farms and hand it over to local management. The areas previously reclaimed by the Provincial People's Committee and handed over to local management are currently being used for production by the people. Some districts are making plans to hand them over to the people, while others are handling assets on the land.

In the coming time, the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that he will coordinate with departments, branches and districts to continue reviewing land of agricultural and forestry farms; advise the Provincial People's Committee to reclaim it and hand it over to localities for management and handover to the people.

At the same time, it is recommended that the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development improve the land production efficiency of agricultural and forestry farms, and that ineffective production land areas be transferred to local authorities for management.

Regarding the payment of compensation for site clearance for the National Highway 1A project, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and EnvironmentHoang Quoc Viet affirmed that in the past time, the Provincial People's Committee has directed very strongly. Currently, the most difficult point is in Quynh Xuan ward (Hoang Mai town), the Department has unified the branches, advised the Provincial People's Committee to guide Hoang Mai town to solve the problem in the direction of integrating all types of maps, all types of land management documents of the locality of the province, and the construction unit at that time. Currently, that area has been determined, moving towards approval and payment to the people.

In other localities such as Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc, Vinh city, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Transport are urging the disbursement of this fund. In addition, the Provincial People's Committee has sent a document requesting the Government and the National Assembly to extend the payment period of this fund until 2025.

Questioning the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Hoang Nghia Hieu highly appreciated the role of the Department in advising on material handling within the scope of the project, but this is only a solution, because not all projects have materials to exploit.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Hoang Nghia Hieu requested the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to direct relevant localities to find suitable solutions to overcome this situation. In particular, research solutions to allocate appropriate public land for planning, thereby helping businesses have conditions to participate in auctions so that mountainous districts have material mines, not having to bring materials from the lowlands to build projects.

Regarding the issue of agricultural and forestry land, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Hoang Nghia Hieu requested the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to report to delegates at this session on the roadmap for converting land from agricultural and forestry farms to localities.

Emphasizing that this is a difficult issue, comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu said that it requires centralized direction from the province to the locality. The province works with the agricultural and forestry farms and localities to agree on the area to be returned. After the return, the locality must have funds to measure and let people settle the assets on the land after the recovery to resolve the issue thoroughly and fundamentally.