Nghi Loc District establishes a team to verify land issues in the Bai Hoang area (Nghi Thiet).

Land allocated for residential purposes overlaps with agricultural land.

In late April 2025, the Nghe An Newspaper hotline received information about a situation in Nghi Thiet commune (Nghi Loc district) where residential land overlapped with agricultural land, resulting in land buyers lacking land use rights. “Since 2003, we have been granted land use right certificates by the Nghi Loc District People's Committee, but to this day we have no land use rights. The Nghi Thiet commune authorities have also verified and clarified this issue, but have not provided a solution that ensures our rights…,” the source added.

Upon reviewing relevant records and documents, it was learned that around 2002-2003, the People's Committee of Nghi Thiet commune established a plan and sold 10 residential land plots (each with an area of ​​200m2) in the Hoang area (along the road connecting Vissai International Port to the CKD oil depot). After fulfilling their financial obligations, the households and individuals had their files prepared by the People's Committee of Nghi Thiet commune to obtain land use right certificates from the People's Committee of Nghi Loc district. However, they later discovered that the land for which they had been granted residential land use right certificates was actually agricultural land already in use. Therefore, they had to pursue their legitimate rights.

In December 2023, to address the complaints of those who purchased land in the Bai Hoang area in 2003, the Nghi Thiet Commune People's Committee established a working group to conduct verification. In March 2024, the working group submitted a report on the verification results to the Nghi Thiet Commune People's Committee.

Verification by the Task Force revealed that the land allocation and land use right certificate records for households that received land use right certificates in 2003 in the Bai Hoang area were not archived. The Bac Vinh Regional Tax Office did retain the land registration fee declaration form and the land use fee declaration form (the Tax authority had calculated the land registration fee and land use fee payable), but the payment receipts were no longer available due to the expiration of the retention period.

After reviewing the land records, the task force determined...cThe land plots for which 10 households were granted land use rights certificates in 2003 were overlapping with agricultural land plots already allocated to households in Quyet Tam hamlet, Nghi Thiet commune for production according to Decree 64/CP (total area of ​​2300 m2, with 52 households allocated land for agricultural production).

Currently, the land plots have no houses built on them; the land is abandoned, the plot boundaries are unclear, and the location of the land zoned for residential use according to the land use right certificate issued in 2003 cannot be determined; furthermore, there are no archived records of the layout of these 10 land plots in Nghi Thiet commune.

In 2010, several land transferees in the Bai Hoang area who intended to build boundary walls were prevented from doing so by residents of Quyet Tam hamlet. It was only then that the situation of overlapping residential land planning with agricultural land already allocated under Decree 64/CP was discovered.

Therefore, the Nghi Thiet commune task force has determined the following:cThe citizens' complaint regarding the State's issuance of land use right certificates to 9 households for a total of 10 residential land plots, each with an area of ​​200m2, at the time of issuance, but without the land being handed over in the field, is justified.

Based on the verification results of the Task Force, on March 15, 2024, the People's Committee of Nghi Thiet commune issued Decision No. 35/QD-UBND resolving the complaints of 10 households who were granted land use right certificates in 2003 in the Bai Hoang area.

Here, the People's Committee of the commune acknowledged the citizens' complaint was valid, stating: "In 2002, you paid for the land, and in 2003, the People's Committee of Nghi Loc district issued land use right certificates and handed them over to the households and individuals who purchased the land." However, it was determined: "Currently, the People's Committee of Nghi Thiet commune cannot organize the land handover in the field because the land planning location in 2002 overlaps with the land already allocated to households in Quyet Tam hamlet for agricultural production according to Decree 64/ND-CP."

The district established a verification team.

Explaining the conclusion in Decision No. 35/QD-UBND, according to the Chairman of Nghi Thiet Commune People's Committee, Mr. Bui Van Thanh, this is a very difficult case at the commune level to resolve because many years have passed, the archived records are unavailable, and the officials who knew about the matter at the time have retired, or some have passed away.

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghi Thiet commune also stated that, in order to resolve and ensure the rights of households granted land use right certificates in 2003, the People's Committee of the commune aims to implement compensation, organize land clearance, and reclaim agricultural land from households in Quyet Tam hamlet. Therefore, in September 2024, a meeting was held with households granted land use right certificates in 2003 and households in Quyet Tam hamlet. However, this meeting did not achieve any results.

Mr. Bui Van Thanh explained: “Nghi Thiet commune has calculated the compensation costs for agricultural land for households in Quyet Tam hamlet, but the households who were granted land use right certificates in 2003 disagree with the additional payment required. Therefore, it has been determined that if the households do not agree with the commune's People's Committee's decision on resolving their complaints, they have the right to appeal to a higher authority or file an administrative lawsuit in court…”

Working withNghi Loc District People's CommitteeRegarding the exchange of information, the area of ​​Bai Hoang in Nghi Thiet commune is related to the Nghi Thiet deep-water port logistics zone project. Through the land clearance work for this project, the district has become aware of cases involving land allocations in 2003 overlapping agricultural land belonging to households in Quyet Tam hamlet. To resolve this, according to the Vice Chairman of the Nghi Loc District People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Duc Tho, "The district leadership has assigned the Inspectorate to coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Environment to investigate the complaints and propose the formation of an inspection team to verify and clarify the matter…".

On May 26, 2025, Mr. Nguyen Duc Tho, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghi Loc District, informed that the Chairman of the People's Committee of the district had signed Decision No. 5283/QD-UBND establishing a working group to verify complaints related to the issuance of land use right certificates in Nghi Thiet commune.

See Decision No. 5283/QD-UBND, where the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghi Loc District directs that within 30 days, the working group is responsible for verifying and clarifying the contents of the complaint and resolving the rights of the households in Bai Hoang, Nghi Thiet commune...