Quy Chau district sets up inspection team to investigate irregularities in forestry land management and use

Many irregularities in the management and use of forestry land in Quy Chau

(Baonghean) - Depleted production forests were assigned to people to renovate and replant for economic development, but then fell into the hands of another group of people. Not only that, a household was also "chased" out of the forest so that others could occupy the land and illegally build houses on the forest land.

According to the Decision signed by the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district, the inspection team is led by Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoai - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district; Ms. Lang Thi Minh - Deputy Head of the District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as Deputy Head of the team and members from relevant departments and offices.

"Regarding the content of the article, most of the staff in the delegation already understood it, but some members of the delegation did not understand it," said Ms. Lang Thi Minh, deputy head of the inspection delegation.

A large production area with stilt houses and new fish ponds was built on the forestry land in Hua Na village (Chau Hanh commune, Quy Chau district) that Ms. Ha Thi Hoa's family reclaimed in 2008. Photo: Pham Bang

At the same time, Mr. Cao Hoang Hai - Chairman of Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee also said that he had just signed a decision to establish an inspection team on the issues raised by the newspaper related to the situation of land acquisition and illegal house construction on forestry land in Hua Na village, Chau Hanh commune.

“Comrade Lang Van Binh - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee as the team leader along with other members will check and verify the information reported by the newspaper. I request that by April 24, the inspection team must have a specific report to the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee and then inform the reporter,” said Mr. Cao Hoang Hai.

Previously, on April 19, Nghe An Newspaper published an article “Irregularities in the management and use of forestry land in Quy Chau district”. The article reflected two issues, one being the case of Ms. Ha Thi Hoa’s family in Na Xen village, Chau Hanh commune, who since 2008 has reclaimed about 1 hectare of forestry land in Hua Na village for fish farming, rice cultivation, and livestock raising.

Forest land was allocated by the State to ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas to develop their family economy, but was later collected by other groups. It has now been cleared and prepared for planting acacia. Photo: Pham Bang

However, according to Ms. Hoa, Mr. Hieu - the commune's land officer - asked her to return the land so that the commune could reclaim it and hand it over to other households that met the conditions. Although Ms. Hoa's family did not want to, they still had to accept 20 million VND and dismantle the tents and return the land. However, Mr. Lang Van Binh - Vice Chairman of Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee in charge of the economic sector confirmed that this land reclamation was not reported or consulted by Mr. Hieu - the land officer.

This land area was then re-planned by a group of people who did not reside in the commune, dug a pond, and built a solid stilt house. Chairman of the Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee affirmed that the commune leaders did not understand this issue and said that this was a mistake and lack of responsibility of the officials when the above incident happened.

Second content, in Tam 1 and Xop Cam villages, Chau Phong commune, there are 4 households that were allocated land by the People's Committee of Quy Chau district, granted land use right certificates with a total area of ​​nearly 52 hectares of production forest land in sub-area 195.

According to records provided by Chau Phong commune, in 2019, these households submitted applications to renovate and replace depleted forests with valuable forestry trees, improve family life, and enhance the effectiveness of the State's forestry land allocation policy for ethnic minorities in mountainous areas.

On that basis, the Quy Chau District Forest Protection Department established a team to inspect the current status and concluded that the forestry land area of ​​the above 4 households has the status of DT2 (bare land with regenerated trees); it is not possible to restore into natural forest with high economic value and agreed to allow new forest planting.

A forest in Chau Phong commune (Quy Chau) is considered a poor forest, unable to be restored into a natural forest with high economic value, but in reality there are many trees with large diameters. Photo: Pham Bang

In reality, these households have secretly transferred this land area to a group of people, under the guise of an economic development “association contract”. Among this group of people, the information provided by the people includes officials working at the People’s Committee of Quy Chau district.

A business owner in Quy Chau district also admitted that he had collected nearly 50 hectares of forest land, and was currently clearing and preparing to plant acacia seedlings.