Nghe An old farmers are weary of seeking justice

3 generations of commune chairmen illegally sold land
In early August, flipping through hundreds of papers and documents carefully wrapped in cardboard boxes, Mr. Nguyen Cong Vy (84 years old, My Thanh commune, Yen Thanh) said that he will continue to do what is necessary to expose the violations occurring in the area. Previously, based on the petitions of Mr. Vy and the people here, Yen Thanh district had stepped in to inspect and then dismissed Mr. Nguyen Van Thach - Chairman of the People's Committee of My Thanh commune.

“This violation is not only committed by Mr. Thach, but also by many other commune chairmen. And we believe that it cannot be resolved by simply removing him from office, but he must take responsibility according to the law and remedy the damage,” said Mr. Vy.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Vy and documents related to violations in My Thanh commune. Photo: Tien Hung

Mr. Vy used to be an army officer. Nearly 40 years ago, he was discharged from the army and returned to his hometown to farm. In 2017, when he learned that a series of plots of land along Highway 7 were being sold by the government in a shady manner, Mr. Vy and some people in the neighborhood went to collect information to "find out the truth".

“At first, we went to each house that had bought land from the commune to ask for information, but then the people found out our motives so they brought their own documents and evidence,” said the 84-year-old farmer. From the evidence collected, Mr. Vy and a number of other people spent two years “knocking on the door” of the authorities to expose the case.

These farmers also sent a petition to Nghe An Newspaper denouncing the violations of My Thanh commune leaders. In November 2018, Nghe An Newspaper published two consecutive articles reflecting on these violations.

Immediately after being accused by Mr. Vy and the people of selling land illegally, the leaders of My Thanh commune finally went to meet each person who had bought the land to ask for “redemption”. But many of them firmly refused. While the money from selling the land in the past is still unclear “whose pocket it went to”, the commune later spent nearly 600 million VND from the budget to redeem it.

After Nghe An Newspaper published the above information, Yen Thanh district conducted an inspection and concluded many violations in this commune. Recently, the district issued a disciplinary decision, removing Mr. Nguyen Van Thach from the position of Chairman of the Commune People's Committee. Meanwhile, the commune Party Secretary Nguyen Vinh Hoi and the land officer Nguyen Vinh Chinh both received warnings.
In addition, the two previous term chairmen and secretaries of the commune, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh and Nguyen Van Nam, were also removed from their positions as members of the Party Committee of the commune during the term in which they were leaders.
More than 20 years of claiming legitimate rights
In March 1995, Yen Thanh District People's Committee opened Road 533 in front of Mr. Nguyen Thon Ban's house (Hop Thanh Commune). At this time, the district assigned Hop Thanh Commune People's Committee to clear the land for road construction. The road was widened to 11m, with a total of 52 households in Hop Thanh Commune being cleared, with compensation of 5,000 VND/m².

In which, Mr. Ban's family was also liberated 41m.²“When the commune finished clearing the land, 50 households were properly compensated. As for my family, because the commune staff left out our names from the clearance list, we have not received compensation since then. We have petitioned the commune and district many times to receive compensation, but wherever we go, we have not received a satisfactory answer,” said Mr. Ban.

Land plots in My Thanh commune that have been sold illegally for many years have been exposed by the people. Photo: Tien Hung

After many years of petitioning, it was not until 2012 (that is, after 17 years) that the People's Committee of Yen Thanh district organized an inspection team, verified and decided to compensate Mr. Ban's family with the amount of 195,000 VND. He refused because he found this price too unreasonable.

"It is unreasonable to use the price from 17 years ago to compensate now," said Mr. Ban, adding that at the same time the land was cleared for road 533, Mr. Doan Hong Thanh's household (Chua hamlet, Hop Thanh commune) had an area of ​​land cleared for road construction of 51.9 m.², converted into compensation of 280,000 VND (clearance records were established in 1995 with other households in the commune).

However, Mr. Doan Hong Thanh's family did not accept it. "Then Mr. Thanh's family's area was still cleared to build a road. In November 2017, the People's Committee of Yen Thanh district and the People's Committee of Hop Thanh commune conducted land auctions in some places in the commune, and Mr. Doan Hong Thanh was granted 2 plots of land (No. 93 and No. 96) with a total area of ​​324 square meters by the government. I lost a lot of money," said Mr. Ban.

Over the past 20 years, frustrated by the impact on his own interests as well as many irregularities in land handling, Mr. Ban has collected evidence to submit a complaint. Recently, based on Mr. Ban's reflection, the inspection team of Yen Thanh district has determined that Hop Thanh commune has many violations, especially in land auction work.

Accordingly, the winners of some auction lots were 2 people who were relatives of officials working in Yen Thanh district and the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. In addition, the auction process was not publicly listed, and the "golden land" in Hop Thanh commune was transferred to Long Thanh commune for auction, which is not transparent...

There was even a case where the person who participated and won the auction for lot number 94 was Ms. Hoang Thi Hao, wife of Mr. Doan Van Canh, an expert of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Yen Thanh district - the person directly assigned to appraise the property. According to the conclusion of the inspector, this was not in accordance with the regulations and rules of auctioning land use rights in Nghe An province.

Mr. Ban in front of the land that was cleared more than 20 years ago but has not been compensated yet. Photo: Tien Hung

Based on these violations, the People's Committee of Yen Thanh district has canceled the auction results for the two land lots. Yen Thanh district also assigned the responsibility to the Department of Internal Affairs, guiding the review of the responsibilities of collectives and individuals under its authority related to the violations, and advising the District People's Committee to handle them. The Standing Committee of the Party Committee of Hop Thanh commune, the Inspection Committee of the District Party Committee and the Yen Thanh District Party Committee reviewed the Party members related to the violations according to their authority. Regarding Mr. Ban's case, Mr. Phan Van Tuyen - Chairman of the People's Committee of Yen Thanh district said that the district has agreed on a compensation plan for land acquisition and clearance according to the current unit price to ensure the rights of citizens.