Nghi Phong (Nghi Loc): Lack of publicity and transparency in handling complaints

(Baonghean) - Nghe An Newspaper has just received a petition from Mr. Pham Ba Binh, Hamlet 11, Nghi Phong Commune (Nghi Loc) complaining that the People's Committee of Nghi Phong Commune took his family's land to build a cultural house in Hamlet 11 without any notice. Now he requests the People's Committee of the Commune to return his family's land.

In the petition, Mr. Binh presented: In 2000, Nghi Phong commune, hamlet 11 took advantage of the fact that my mother, Mrs. Pham Thi Hieu, was old and weak, and her children were working far away, to cut down the trees in the backyard and build a hamlet cultural house on my family's land. My mother came out to ask and stop them, but they still dug up and cut down our trees. In 2001, I came back to visit my mother and hold a memorial service for my father. I saw that the commune and hamlet had built a cultural house and were digging, bulldozing, and tilting trees. I came out to stop them, then they stopped. In 2006-2007, when my mother had just passed away, the commune and hamlet organized to demolish the old cultural house and build a new one elsewhere, but part of it was within my family's property. Because the working conditions were too far away and my family's circumstances were difficult, we did not have the conditions to return, so we kept quiet and let the commune and hamlet do it. Since the end of 2014, I decided to return to my hometown and asked the commune to return the land left by my ancestors.

“The land that the commune took to build the cultural house of hamlet 11 was land that my father, Mr. Pham Ba Quang, had cultivated and used for a long time. Now the commune took it to build the hamlet cultural house without informing the family, which is not right. Therefore, I request the commune and hamlet to return the land to the family,” said Mr. Binh.

Mr. Pham Ba Binh presented the petition content to reporters.

Mr. Binh said that during the years of the resistance war against the US, the land behind his family was a place to garrison and gather weapons and fuel for the army. The boundary of the land, the East borders the inter-hamlet road, the West borders Mr. Trinh Van Dung's land, the North borders Phuong Cuong communal house and the South borders abandoned land.

However, when working with reporters, Mr. Binh could not provide any legal basis to prove that the land was left by his ancestors. In the family's Land Use Rights Certificate issued in 1997, the above land plot was not shown. Compared with Map 299, the land plot of Mr. Binh's family and related households was not clearly shown but was just a large strip of land without boundaries. Explaining this, Mr. Binh said that in 1997, most people in Nghi Phong when declaring to be granted a Land Use Rights Certificate did not declare the area of ​​​​sand land for planting trees, bushland but only declared garden land and residential land. Therefore, the land area behind was not shown in the Land Use Rights Certificate.

In 2009, the commune conducted measurements to re-map and issue new land use right certificates to households. According to the 2009 map, Mr. Binh's family's land is located at plot 470, map number 18, with an area of ​​1,495 m2, an increase of 250 m2 compared to the certificate issued in 1997. The new land use right certificate of Mr. Binh's family still does not show the area that Mr. Binh said the commune took from his family to build a cultural house. According to Mr. Binh, at that time he was far away so he asked Ms. Hoang Thi Thanh (sister-in-law) to declare on his behalf. "Because my sister-in-law is from another place and does not know the origin of the family's land, when she heard the commune officials say that the area of ​​land for planting trees behind the house cannot be declared, she only declared according to the actual area," said Mr. Binh.

At the same time, Nghi Phong Commune People's Committee prepared a dossier requesting the Provincial People's Committee to issue a Certificate of Land Use Rights for the land plot to build a cultural house. On December 31, 2013, the Provincial People's Committee issued a Certificate of Land Use Rights managed by the Commune People's Committee No. CT 15822, plot 436, Map Sheet No. 18 with an area of ​​2,463 m2.

After receiving Mr. Binh's petition, on August 13, 2015, Nghi Phong Commune People's Committee established an inspection and verification team. On August 24, Nghi Phong Commune People's Committee issued Notice No. 243 on the verification results and response to the complaint to the family. According to the notice: "Based on working with the Phong Vinh Hamlet Front Committee (Hamlet 11) and a number of former hamlet chiefs over the periods and directly checking the land records in the hamlet, the commune found the following: Plot 436, Map Sheet No. 18 was previously a strip of land located between hamlets. In 1989, the commune advocated for hamlets to plant trees on fallow land to avoid the situation of abandoned land.

To implement that policy, hamlet 11 divided each household a plot of land to plant trees. Mr. Pham Ba Quang's household was also divided a plot near his house to plant trees and he planted some eucalyptus trees on that plot of land... In 2001, hamlet 11 planned the campus and cultural house on that area, so they hired a machine to dig up the land and dig up some trees of Mr. Quang's family. When the family expressed their opinion that they would not compensate for the trees, the commune sent officials down to explain that Mr. Quang's trees were ready to be harvested, so the commune would not compensate for these trees...

Mr. Pham Ba Binh stands on the land that he said was left by his father but the commune took it to make a village cultural house.

When reporters asked to be provided with documents related to the policy of lending land to households in 1989, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hai, Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said that the policy was only verbal and there were no documents or papers.

Contacting the records provided by the People's Committee of Nghi Phong commune, it was found that the inspection and verification of the content of the citizen's complaint was not objective, comprehensive, and complete. The delegation only took the opinions of 3 people: Mr. Le Van An, Secretary of the Party Cell of Hamlet 11; Trinh Van Chat, Head of Hamlet 11; Mr. Trinh Xuan Ty, former Head of Hamlet 11 from 1994 to 1999. The delegation did not work directly with Mr. Binh, the petitioner, to grasp the information and wishes of the family. In the notification of verification results, the delegation said that it had taken the opinions of the Front Working Committee of Hamlet 11. In fact, the delegation did not ask for opinions of some members of the Front Working Committee. Ms. Mai Thi Tuat, Head of the Farmers' Association of Hamlet 11, and Mr. Pham Thanh Trung, Head of the Veterans' Association of Hamlet 11, said that they were not invited to work by the commune's verification delegation.

At the same time, through checking the land records kept in the hamlet and commune, the delegation did not find any content or information about the land plot that Mr. Binh claimed back (including the book granted to the family or the land loan records). The delegation only relied on the opinions of the 3 individuals mentioned above and came to the conclusion: Based on the information of the Hamlet Front Committee and hamlet officials over the periods, based on the land records and inventory books kept in the commune and hamlet, Nghi Phong Commune People's Committee responded to Mr. Nguyen Ba Binh that his complaint was unfounded and had no basis to resolve. Working with reporters, Mr. Trinh Van Chat, Hamlet Chief 11 said: "I do not know specifically about the origin of the land. I only know that Mr. Quang's family planted cassava and some trees on that land. When the commune came to verify, I also answered the same."

To have more evidence, the reporter went to meet the elders, members of the Front Committee of Hamlet 11. Mr. Pham Huy Van, Trinh Van Tuat, Pham Minh Trung; Pham Thanh Trung; Mrs. Mai Thi Tuan confirmed that from 1968 - 1969, they saw Mr. Quang's family planting trees on that land. Mr. Pham Huy Van, former accountant of the cooperative from 1976 - 1985, said: "Before that, I did not know, but from 1970, I saw Mr. Quang planting trees on that land. At first, he planted cassava and potatoes, then planted casuarina and eucalyptus. I do not know about the policy of allocating land to households to reforest barren land." Mr. Trinh Van Tuat (born 1946) said: “Around 1964, I saw Mr. Quang planting trees on that land. In 1977, after returning from work, I still saw Mr. Quang planting eucalyptus and casuarina trees. Until 1999, when Mr. Quang passed away, the trees were still there and big.”

It can be said that the crux of the problem is that Nghi Phong Commune People's Committee did not verify the origin of the land plot that Mr. Binh claimed in a public, transparent, and complete manner to have a basis to determine whether the family was compensated or not according to the provisions of the Land Law. This has made Mr. Binh frustrated and he continues to file a complaint to all levels and sectors. Therefore, in the coming time, Nghi Phong Commune needs to continue to carefully investigate, clarify the contents of Mr. Binh's complaint and respond satisfactorily. Nghi Loc District People's Committee needs to get involved to grasp information, guide the commune to check and verify the origin of the land to promptly resolve citizens' complaints in accordance with the law./.

Pham Bang