Worry about 'protection' when harvest season comes

Worry again at harvest time

At this time, many areas in the province are entering the spring rice harvest season. Along with the joy of the farmers' bumper crop, the harvester owners are also working overtime. However, besides the joy, they are still worried about being oppressed by protectionists as has happened before. Mr. NTH, a harvester owner hired by the people to harvest in Yen Thanh district, said: "I just hope for sunny weather to harvest quickly, but in fact I don't know when the protectionists will appear."

The worries of Mr. H. and many harvester owners in rural areas such as Yen Thanh, Thanh Chuong, Do Luong... that we have met are not without basis. In fact, in recent years, harvester protection has appeared frequently. In Thanh Long commune (Thanh Chuong), many people are still scared every time they mention the subjects protecting harvesters in the winter-spring crop in April 2019.

Harvester protection group led by Tran Van Manh in Thanh Long commune (Thanh Chuong). Photo courtesy of Quynh Trang

During the harvest season, with the aim of contracting the harvest of the entire Thanh Long commune field, some subjects forced people to rent harvesters that they had "protected" at high prices. If they did not agree, they would not let them harvest or keep the harvested rice. For harvester owners outside the area, if they wanted to operate, they had to pay them 20,000 VND/sao. To legalize this act of extortion, the subjects forced the harvester owners to sign a pre-prepared harvester rental contract. Although they were upset by their insolent behavior, but were afraid of affecting the harvest yield, many people had to endure and accept it.

The case was later verified and clarified by Thanh Chuong District Police. On May 6, 2019, the Special Task Force arrested three suspects, Tran Van Manh (born in 1982), Pham Cong Bao (born in 1987), both residing in Thanh Long Commune, Thanh Chuong District, and Nguyen Ba Su (born in 1992), residing in Ma Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District, for the act of "Extortion of property". They seized 4 homemade guns, 3 machetes and 1 million VND in cash.

The leader of this protection group is Tran Van Manh, a subject with 6 previous convictions for disturbing public order, illegal possession of drugs... Manh assigned his two juniors, Bao and Su, the daily task of monitoring and guarding the rice fields. Whenever they discovered a strange harvester, they would come to "visit" it. If the harvester owner did not cooperate, they would immediately chase them away, destroy the machine, and even assault them. Through the investigation, the case clarified the acts of protection and extortion of money by these 3 subjects against many harvester owners hired by people to harvest rice in Thanh Chuong district, with the amount of tens of millions of dong.

With similar behavior, in June 2018, Thanh Chuong District Police initiated a case, prosecuting Phan Van Sy (born in 1986, residing in Moi Hamlet, Thanh Nho Commune) and Nguyen Hung Cuong (born in 1975, residing in Hamlet 7, Cat Van Commune) for extortion. The modus operandi of the subjects was to approach harvester owners from other places and then threaten and intimidate them. Many harvester owners, wanting to do business in peace, "paid tribute" to Cuong and Sy the amount of money that this group demanded, which was 2 million VND/machine.

Many harvester protectionists in the province have been sentenced to heavy sentences for extortion. Photo courtesy of Tan Ky - Van Ly

In Yen Thanh district, the largest rice granary of the province, it was also a "fertile" land for those who protected harvesters to operate. In particular, the Yen Thanh district police successfully broke up a case, arresting 4 subjects residing in Dong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district for property destruction. Under the direction and leadership of Dao Quang Tri (born in 1982), this group of subjects "arranged" to bring rice harvesters to Yen Thanh to operate, receiving "commissions". Any harvester owners who did not follow this arrangement and did not pay the money would be threatened and even beaten. Among them was Mr. Phan Ba ​​Than, residing in Dong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Because Mr. Than was determined not to pay the commission, on the night of September 2, 2017, while leaving his harvester at an acquaintance's house, Tri directed his juniors to burn and destroy Mr. Than's machine so that he would have no way to make a living.

The acts of protecting harvesters during the harvest season have caused confusion and anger among people, affecting security and order at the grassroots level.

Prevent protectionism

Although there are no complete statistics, from 2016 to now, almost every year in Nghe An province, there have been cases related to protection of harvesters. In particular, the localities where this situation has occurred include Thanh Chuong, Do Luong, Yen Thanh... The investigation agencies in the localities determined that this is a new type of crime in rural areas. They operate in groups, mainly by young people who hang around to "protect" and "guarantee" the harvester owners to do business and "collect fees". The actions of this group of subjects are very bold, some subjects even use weapons...

Mr. Phan Ba ​​Than is upset about the "protection" of rice harvesters, embezzling money from harvester owners and farmers. Photo courtesy of Thao Nguyen

Accordingly, the subjects often force people to rent harvesters that they have "protected" at high prices. If they do not agree, they will not let them harvest or keep the harvested rice. For harvester owners outside the area, if they want to operate, they must pay a fee per pole. Regarding the reasons why the harvester protection situation still occurs. On the one hand, because the profits are quite high, so the harvester owners often have the mindset of "letting it go", just paying to finish and still be able to do business in peace. The season is only about 3 weeks, earning tens of millions of dong, spending a few million is also acceptable. On the other hand, the above situation occurs because the authorities of some localities have not paid attention to solving and handling it thoroughly.

The protection of harvesters in many localities not only causes instability in rural security but also leads to harvester owners "inflating" prices to cover expenses, in this case, spending protection money. And after all, the real victims of harvester "protection" are farmers. Mr. TVT, residing in Thinh Son commune, Do Luong district, said: On average, one sao of rice harvested in dry fields, the harvest cost is only about 120 to 140 thousand VND. However, when the protectionists force them to pay, the harvester owners are forced to collect an additional 20 or 30 thousand VND per sao.

Faced with the rampant situation of "protection" of harvesters, some localities have implemented preventive and containment measures. Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Yen Thanh district said: In addition to some cooperatives in the area that have invested in harvesters for members such as Van Thanh Cooperative and Minh Thanh Cooperative, to ensure security in rice harvesting, before the crop season, the District People's Committee issued a document assigning responsibilities to localities and agricultural cooperatives to contact machine owners to organize harvesting. Accordingly, based on the specific rice area, localities and cooperatives organize contracts with machine owners according to specific harvesting locations, suitable prices, harvest the entire area, and avoid unhealthy competition between machine owners. Along with that, the district police have increased the number of officers to monitor the area, coordinate with the police of communes and towns, grasp the situation, if detecting the phenomenon of "protection" in rice harvesting, handle it according to the provisions of law.

This year's spring rice harvest, people in many localities in the province no longer have to worry about harvester protection. Photo courtesy of Xuan Hoang

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hoanh, member of the Board of Directors of Van Thanh Agricultural Cooperative (Yen Thanh District): Although investing in 1 harvester cannot meet the harvesting needs of more than 300 hectares of rice of members in the area, when the Cooperative has set the current standard price of 120,000 - 130,000 VND/sao of dry fields, 160,000 VND/sao of deep fields, then if people hire outside, it will only be equal to or lower than the above price. Therefore, it avoids the phenomenon of people being protected and overcharged.

Mr. Tran Phi Hung - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Chuong district also said: Currently, most communes in the area have announced the prices of machinery serving agricultural production for people to choose, not to be ripped off by the rampant protectionists as before. If protectionism is detected, people can call the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee directly and report to the police for handling.

With the above solutions, up to now, there have been no new cases of harvester protection in the localities. However, to end the harvester protection situation and eliminate the "parasitic" brokers on the labor of farmers, local authorities need to coordinate with the police force to monitor the area, promptly detect and handle subjects with protection activities. At the same time, conduct a review and list groups and subjects with the ability and suspicious signs of protection activities and property extortion to put them under management, and at the same time have deterrent measures so that subjects do not intend to commit crimes.

People are excited to harvest spring rice. Photo courtesy of Xuan Hoang

In addition, it is necessary to strengthen propaganda and have a protection mechanism so that harvester owners and people can boldly denounce protectionists. Along with that, localities also need to hold meetings with harvester owners and people's representatives to set reasonable rental prices, avoiding the phenomenon of price gouging and price pressure affecting people's interests during the harvest season.

According to Dr. Lawyer Nguyen Trong Hai - Head of Trong Hai and Associates Law Office: “Subjects with the above behavior may be subject to administrative sanctions or criminal liability under Article 170 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017 for the crime of “Extortion of property”. Depending on the level, the behavior will have different levels of punishment. Even in cases where many subjects collude to commit the behavior, the element of “organized crime” will be considered.