Part 2: Security guard borrows school land and is immediately given a "red book"
Lending a small piece of land at the corner of the school to a security guard to sell sugarcane juice for work convenience, but somehow, this person was later granted a Certificate of Land Use Rights for the beautiful plot of land along Highway 15. That incident happened at Do Luong 1 High School.
Ambiguous issuance of "red book" for school security guards
For many years, many locals have been curious about a solid house nestled in the grounds of Do Luong 1 High School (Da Son Commune, Do Luong District). This house is located in the front corner of the school, adjacent to two roads. The front side is on National Highway 15, the side is on the inter-commune asphalt road, and the other two sides are adjacent to the school. In previous years, this house arbitrarily opened the back gate facing the school, allowing many students to sneak out to buy things or skip school, even though the school gate was closed.
“The school grounds are so square, and suddenly a house appears, it looks very offensive. We don’t understand who would sell the school land to someone else to live on like that?”, a long-time resident of Da Son commune asked.
According to the reporter's investigation, this house is located on a plot of land that previously belonged to Do Luong 1 High School. Later, for unknown reasons, the local government granted a land use right certificate to the school's security guard so that he could live and do business. A few years ago, the house was resold to someone else. Currently, the house is posted with a notice looking for a long-term tenant.
Discussing this matter, a former leader of Do Luong 1 High School said that he had been associated with this school for more than 20 years, then became the school's leader and directly handled land issues, so he understood it very well.
At that time, I was assigned to participate in solving the problem from beginning to end. Not only me, but all the teachers in the school, the principal and the surrounding people all knew that the land used to belong to the school.
A former leader of Do Luong 1 High School
Do Luong 1 High School was assigned land and moved to its current location in 1992. Mr. Nguyen Van Vinh was hired as a security guard from the very beginning until now. Some time later, Mr. Vinh asked the school to borrow a security booth at the side gate to sell sugarcane juice and guard the gate. Mr. Vinh later expanded and built more to facilitate his business.
“At first, I didn’t know, but in the following years, Mr. Vinh paid the school 500,000 VND per year for the land. Until around 2007, the board of directors mentioned in a meeting that the usual deadline had passed, but Mr. Vinh still hadn’t paid the 500,000 VND. After that, Mr. Vinh brought the money to the board of directors to pay, but at the same time, he also showed the Land Use Rights Certificate. At that time, the school was very surprised. The principal could only smile and say, “If you already have a red book, why pay the school anymore?”, the former leader of Do Luong 1 High School recounted, adding that at that time, the land plot Mr. Vinh was granted a red book with an area of 63m2.2However, according to the reporter's records, this land plot currently has an area of no less than 100m2.2.
Loose management
According to the former leader of Do Luong 1 High School, after discovering that the security guard was issued a red book right on school land, the school went to find out the cause. “The fault here lies with the local government. At that time, the issuance of red books to people or state agencies in the area was still the responsibility of the district People's Committee, the administrative procedures were very simple. After investigating, the school learned that all land certificates were issued by the commune reporting to the district People's Committee. For example, from this year to the next, the commune would change the purpose of using how many plots of land, issue certificates to how many cases and then send them to the district. The district had data from the commune, printed a series of land certificates and signed them for nothing, then sent them to the commune; therefore, at many times, there were many extra certificates. Maybe, people had connections so they could get those land certificates. That's why the security guard of Do Luong 1 High School was issued a land certificate, but there was no extract,” said the former leader of Do Luong 1 High School, adding that when the school discovered the incident, the leader who signed the land certificate for Mr. Vinh had long since retired.
“The school was assigned land for use, so it had no authority to request the demolition of that house, and had no choice but to entrust the entire matter to the local government. Not long after, I worked directly with the commune government to issue a land use right certificate for the school. But at that time, if the school wanted to be granted a red book, it had to be measured and planned by the government, and the school had to sign that plan. When I looked at the plan, I saw that the corner of the school had an area of 63m2.2The land where the security guard was staying was colored red and marked with a question mark. I just said this is school land, why is there a question mark there? Seeing that, the school leaders did not sign the planning document, so the school was not granted a red book after that, the file was put on hold forever, until I retired", the former leader of Do Luong 1 High School added.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, Mr. Nguyen Van Vinh told a different story. Mr. Vinh admitted that this plot of land previously belonged to the school, but was later "given to me by the school and the commune". "That piece of land was agreed upon by the commune and school authorities, given to me because I was a family with a policy," Mr. Vinh said, adding that he had worked as a security guard for Do Luong 1 High School since it was under construction. "The security here was weak in the past, and I had the courage, so the school loved me. The school favored me, the commune authorities cared for me, so they gave me the land. Da Son commune and the board of directors agreed to give it to my parents so that I could work as a security guard. After my father passed away, I mortgaged this piece of land," Mr. Vinh added, saying that he did not remember which year he was granted the red book for this piece of land, nor did he remember the exact area. He only remembered that at that time, the vice principal of the school and the leaders of Da Son commune confirmed the land for him, however, currently there are no documents or records.
“At that time, the school initially lent me the money to sell sugarcane juice and then dog meat..., but I didn’t rent it. I didn’t have to pay the school a single penny,” Mr. Vinh affirmed.
Mr. Le Duc Hung - Principal of Do Luong 1 High School said that when he came to work at the school in 2016, the security guard also came and presented the red book. "At that time, I did not know much about it. But when I came back, I saw that he already had a red book, so I had to accept it," Mr. Hung said and said that in 2018, to make a file to recognize the school as a national standard school, a land use rights certificate was required, so the school agreed to sign the planning document.
