Arbitrarily cutting down trees on disputed forest land

Ambiguous purchase and sale

According to the petition of the representative of Mr. Nguyen Ba Ngoc's family (Mr. Ngoc passed away in 2016), on December 14, 2002, Mr. Ngoc received the transfer of 20 hectares.forestry landof Mr. Phan Cong Tien, including plots 375, 318, 378, map sheet number TK888, in Khua area, Dong Thinh hamlet (Thinh Thanh commune). Currently, this area according to map 163 is plot number 219, map sheet number 02 under the name of Mr. Ngoc. After completing the purchase and sale, on the same day, Mr. Ngoc carried out procedures to register land use rights, determine boundaries, and forestry land boundaries at the People's Committee of Thinh Thanh commune.

The Khua forest area in Dong Thinh hamlet is being disputed between Mr. Ngoc's family and Mr. Tien's. Photo: Tien Dong

In 2006, Mr. Ngoc continued to receive the transfer from Mr. Tien's family of a plot of land south of Khe U Hu with a total area of ​​25.9 hectares, belonging to lots 30, 43, 45, section 8, map sheet number TK888. After receiving the transfer of the above land areas, Mr. Ngoc's family used them stably, planted acacia and harvested continuously on the purchased land area and paid taxes in full. In addition, Mr. Ngoc also built a farmhouse in the purchased forest land area. In 2015, after Mr. Ngoc's family exploited and harvested trees on about 13 hectares of land (7 hectares had not been exploited), Mr. Tien took advantage of Mr. Ngoc's family being short of people, working in Hanoi, and having no one to manage them, so he arbitrarily burned down and planted acacia on an estimated area of ​​13 hectares of Mr. Ngoc's family. Immediately after discovering the incident, Mr. Ngoc submitted a petition to the People's Committee of Thinh Thanh Commune and the local government organized a mediation on October 9, 2015. The mediation was unsuccessful, and the People's Committee of Thinh Thanh Commune requested both sides to maintain the status quo, and anyone who violated the law would be held responsible.

In the conciliation minutes on October 9, 2015, the People's Committee of Thinh Thanh commune also confirmed that the sale and purchase between Mr. Tien and Mr. Ngoc was real, even the above land area according to map 163 is plot 219, map sheet number 02 under the name of Mr. Nguyen Ba Ngoc and has paid tax obligations to the State from 2007 to present.

The disputed forest land has been cleared of trees. Photo: Tien Dong

However, in 2016, when Mr. Ngoc suddenly passed away, the dispute had not yet been resolved, Mr. Ngoc's son, Mr. Nguyen Ba Cong, continued to represent the family in filing complaints to all levels. During this period, Mr. Tien's family had repeatedly brought people and vehicles to exploit the forest in the disputed area. The incident was later discovered by Mr. Ngoc's family and reported to the local authorities. The local authorities of Thinh Thanh commune had also repeatedly drawn up records to suspend Mr. Tien's family's illegal tree exploitation, however, Mr. Tien's family continued to brazenly carry it out, regardless of the law.

Protracted dispute

Mr. Nguyen Ba Cong (Mr. Ngoc's son) said: Mr. Tien's family hired people and machines to cut down trees on the land that his father had bought and planted, which was a violation of the law. All the trees that Mr. Tien's family cut down in January 2019 were trees planted by his family, the total value of the lost trees was about 80 million VND.

Many large acacia and cajuput trees have been cut down. Photo: Tien Dong

Mr. Cong also said that immediately after the incident, his family contacted the Chairman of the People's Committee of Thinh Thanh Commune and requested the authorities to take measures to prevent this behavior. Mr. Cong's family provided some clips of the process of cutting down trees. The local authorities themselves have also drawn up records and suspended Mr. Tien's family from cutting down trees many times, however, they have not taken any drastic measures to prevent it.

Working with us, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Phong - Chairman of the People's Committee of Thinh Thanh commune admitted that the local government had requested both sides to maintain the status quo, however, Mr. Phan Cong Tien's family had repeatedly sent people and vehicles to cut down trees without submitting a request to the local government and the forest rangers. Therefore, the government had to make records many times and suspend Mr. Tien's family's tree cutting.

We asked why Mr. Tien's family blatantly violated the law, cutting down trees without permission and having been fined and suspended many times, but still re-offending without the government taking any measures to punish or handle the situation? Mr. Phong also admitted that he did not know how to punish and handle the situation according to the regulations. Currently, the dispute has been accepted by the People's Court of Yen Thanh district, so Mr. Phong also requested the People's Court to resolve it soon, to avoid causing instability in the locality.

The most difficult thing is that the person who understood the situation on the plaintiff's side, Mr. Ngoc, has passed away. Not to mention that at the time when Mr. Ngoc and Mr. Tien bought and sold the forest land, the boundary was not clearly marked. Moreover, later, the District People's Committee built a road to transport raw materials through here, so the current situation has changed.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Phong - Chairman of People's Committee of Thinh Thanh commune

Mr. Phan Cong Tien's family, in many meetings and dialogues, said that Mr. Ngoc's family had not paid in full, which is why the dispute occurred.

An acacia tree was cut down on the disputed land. Photo: Tien Dong

Most recently, on January 13, 2023, the People's Committee of Thinh Thanh commune continued to issue a Notice on stopping harvesting and cultivating on the disputed land plot in the Khua area (Dong Thinh hamlet), sent to Mr. Phan Cong Tien. The People's Committee of Thinh Thanh commune also stated that currently, land plot No. 219, map sheet No. 02 in the Khua forest area, Dong Thinh hamlet is in dispute and is being handled by the People's Court of Yen Thanh district. While waiting for the People's Court to resolve, Mr. Phan Cong Tien is requested not to exploit or change the current status in the above area. The People's Committee of Thinh Thanh commune also assigned the responsibility to Mr. Phan Cong Tien to immediately stop exploiting cajuput and planting cajuput on the disputed area until the settlement result of the People's Court of Yen Thanh district is available. If he fails to do so, he will be held responsible before the law.

Based on the sale and purchase papers, the application for transfer of forest land use rights has been confirmed by the local authorities regarding the boundaries and landmarks, although the forest register has not been issued, this is the initial basis to confirm that there has been a transaction on forest land transfer between the two parties. However, while the disputes are occurring, Mr. Phan Cong Tien's family deliberately entered this area to exploit, burn and clear land to plant trees without the consent of Mr. Nguyen Ba Ngoc's family, and even deliberately exploited when the local authorities have requested to maintain the status quo, which is a violation of the law. To let the incident drag on, it is thought that the local authorities have not really paid attention to resolving and handling it thoroughly.