People in one place, land in another

People on this side, land on the other side

Present at Bac Ninh hamlet, Tay Hieu commune (Thai Hoa town), we received many opinions from the people regarding the above situation. These "irrationalities" have been petitioned by the people many times but have not been resolved thoroughly until now.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Luyen, residing in Bac Ninh hamlet (formerly a citizen of Hung Bac hamlet), shared: “My family lives on the land left by my parents. Previously, this area belonged toTay Hieu 1 Farm, then, when Tay Hieu commune was established in 1995, our household registration was also transferred to the Tay Hieu commune People's Committee for management. In 2012, a delegation of cadres came to measure and draw maps, and in 2015, when the Land Use Rights Certificate (red book) was changed from red to pink, we were "shocked" when our family's land plot from Tay Hieu commune was transferred to Nghia Tien commune for management".

It is known that after An Ninh, Hung Bac, Hieu Thanh, and Hung Phu hamlets were included in the administrative boundary map of Nghia Tien commune, many problems arose. First of all, the fact that people live in one place and land in another has caused difficulties for both Nghia Tien and Tay Hieu communes. When Nghia Tien commune wants to get information about migration and changes in population in these hamlets, it has to ask Tay Hieu commune and vice versa, when Tay Hieu commune wants to get information about land in these hamlets, it has to ask Nghia Tien commune. If a household wants to use the Land Use Right Certificate to mortgage a bank loan, it has to ask for confirmation from both communes. Even when a land dispute occurs, both communes have to participate in handling it.

Not to mention, up to now, there are households that when issuing and exchanging red books have mistakenly converted residential land and garden land into perennial crop land. Therefore, if adjusted, the land origin must be verified from both communes, making it very difficult. There was even a time when Tay Hieu commune carried out procedures for dividing plots and auctioning land in the area within the scope of these hamlets, but in principle the land is under the management of Nghia Tien commune, so after the People's Committee of Nghia Tien commune objected, the division and auctioning were forced to stop.

Mr. Pham Van Hung - Head of Bac Ninh Hamlet (the two hamlets An Ninh and Hung Bac were previously merged), said: The problem arose when people proceeded to issue and exchange red books, at that time the information of the land plot was recorded as belonging to Nghia Tien commune. It is worth mentioning that at that time, the people in the hamlet did not receive the information, only when they received the red books did they know. Previously, there was a time when the People's Committee of Thai Hoa town planned to hand over these hamlets to Nghia Tien commune for management, but the people did not agree, so they stopped. The reason given by the people was that in the past, the history of the formation of these 4 hamlets was from the production teams of Tay Hieu 1 Farm, they were familiar with the lifestyle and activities in Tay Hieu. Not to mention, if they went to Nghia Tien commune headquarters, traveling would be difficult because the distance was longer.

“In recent years, the town has assigned Tay Hieu commune to handle land-related procedures for the people. However, looking at the map, the residents of Tay Hieu and Nghia Tien communes are interlaced in a “comb-toothed” position. Therefore, during a meeting with voters, the people suggested that the two communes should be merged into one ward, or only when the administrative boundaries are readjusted can the problem be completely resolved,” Mr. Hung emphasized.

Waiting for resolution

Digging deeper into this issue, we know that Nghia Tien commune was established in 1983, at that time it belonged to Nghia Dan district. At that time, Nghia Tien commune consisted of 2 parts, Boi village and Dong village. Between these 2 parts of land was the central area of ​​Tay Hieu 1 Farm, including hamlets (equivalent to production teams) An Ninh, Hung Bac, Hieu Thanh, Hung Phu. Later, An Ninh hamlet merged with Hung Bac to become Bac Ninh; Hieu Thanh hamlet merged with Hung Phu to become Phu Thanh.

In 1991, implementing Directive 364-CT, dated November 26, 1991 of the Council of Ministers on resolving land disputes related to administrative boundaries of provinces, districts, and communes, the administrative boundaries of Nghia Tien commune were redrawn into a unified block, including hamlets of Boi village, Dong village and the above-mentioned 4 hamlets of Tay Hieu 1 Farm.

However, in 1995, when Tay Hieu commune was established, the administrative boundaries of the commune were determined to include all the land and population of Tay Hieu 1 Farm. This means that Tay Hieu commune will include the hamlets of An Ninh, Hung Bac, Hieu Thanh, and Hung Phu. The people of these hamlets themselves were originally formed from the production teams of Tay Hieu 1 Farm, so when the commune was established and even later, they also wanted to be citizens of Tay Hieu commune.

Mr. Phan Dinh Lam - Chairman of Nghia Tien Commune People's Committee said: In 2012, when there was a plan to measure and draw the current map of wards and communes in Thai Hoa town, because based on the map measured according to Directive 364 in 1991, the authorities issued red books to people according to the old information. Currently, although Tay Hieu Commune People's Committee is assigned to resolve land-related issues in these hamlets, this is only a temporary solution. In the long term, we still have to wait for the adjustment of administrative boundaries, because when adjusted, the land of Bac Ninh and Phu Thanh hamlets will be returned to Tay Hieu commune, but at the same time, some land areas belonging to Tay Hieu commune will be assigned to Nghia Tien commune for management so that the administrative boundary map is seamless and drawn smoothly.

Mr. Duong Dinh Duong - Chairman of Tay Hieu Commune People's Committee also confirmed that currently, Thai Hoa Town People's Committee is assigning the locality to be responsible for resolving land-related issues for hamlets located in the overlapping area. The local government has also notified people who need to change their red books to correct the information, however, there are cases where people are mortgaging their assets to borrow from banks, and there are cases where people are working far away so they have not been able to do so. In the long term, the locality also wants the administrative boundaries to be amended.

Obviously, Nghia Tien and Tay Hieu are two independent localities, established far apart in time, so it is unclear why there is still overlap. This needs to be resolved completely to avoid future problems that affect administrative management, land management, and cause trouble for local people.