Who shirks responsibility?

(Baonghean) - For 30 years working as a construction worker, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa's dream of having a piece of land to build a small house was still far away. Unfortunately, the main reason was the unfairness of her old company, Ms. Hoa wrote in her petition...

At the end of September 2015, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (residing in the collective housing area in lane 20, Le Hong Phong street, Vinh city) came to Nghe An Newspaper to "send" the public reception officer a petition to explain her situation. According to the petition, Ms. Hoa worked as a worker for Construction Company No. II (now Vinaconex 16 Construction Joint Stock Company) since 1976; until 2005, she was granted retirement. After 30 years of working as a worker, living alone, the company arranged for her to live in the collective housing area in Truong Tien block, Hung Binh ward (Vinh city). In 2007, that is, 2 years after her retirement, the company implemented a housing project for workers in Hung Hoa commune. Being old and hoping to have a stable place to live, she borrowed money from relatives and friends in 2 installments of over 30 million VND for the company to build infrastructure and hand over land. However, after nearly 10 years, the project is still at a standstill.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa and invoices for paying infrastructure construction fees to Vinaconex 16 Construction Joint Stock Company in 2007.

During these years, her residence was constantly shifting and unstable. From the Truong Tien block apartment complex, in 2010, the company "moved" her to the apartment complex in lane 20, Le Hong Phong street because the company rented out the land. After nearly 5 years of living in her new place, she recently received news that she had to return her house because the company would return the land so that Vinh City could allocate land to families living in the apartment complex. She hoped that she would be allocated land, but then she was disappointed when she saw that the list was full of people who had just joined the company to work; not only that, the list included people who already had land and stable housing in the city.

When she went to the person in charge of the company, she was told that the land in the collective housing area was only for those whose names were on the list drawn up years ago. When asked about the housing project in Hung Hoa, she received the same answer as many times before, just wait a little longer! “I have been with the company my whole life. I retired and lived alone, the company knows all about my circumstances. Why, when there was a policy to divide land in the collective housing area for workers, did the company not consider me…” - Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa wrote.

At 58 years old and thin, Ms. Hoa still has to follow her colleagues to work as a construction worker to make a living. Therefore, she "only has time to meet journalists in the evening to explain clearly." And in a small, low dormitory room with mottled walls and a tarpaulin ceiling to prevent leaks, she shows the receipts for paying money to the infrastructure company since 2007 to prove that the information in the application is true.

“My pension is 2 million VND/month, not enough to live on, so my old acquaintances took pity on me and invited me to work as a construction worker to supplement my income. Actually, my health is also exhausted, each month I only get 7 to 10 more jobs. My long-time wish is to have a small piece of land and borrow money from my children and relatives to build a small house to live in the last years of my life. If the housing project for workers in Hung Hoa was implemented on schedule, I would not ask for anything. But it has been 8 years since the project was implemented"...?

Inquiring at the Vinh City People's Committee, it was learned that the Hung Binh Ward government is the investor of the land division project in the collective housing area in lane 20, Le Hong Phong Street, but the list of people who will be allocated land was made by Vinaconex 16 Company; the ward only reviewed and adjusted the planning in 2014; prepared the documents and then sent them to the city according to regulations. Coming to Vinaconex 16 Construction Joint Stock Company, the staff here said that the list of people who were allocated land in the collective housing area in lane 20, Le Hong Phong Street was from 2004, when the land division planning in the collective housing area was approved by the Provincial People's Committee (?). Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa was only temporarily moved in by the company in 2013, so she could not be included even though she "understands the situation very well" (?). Requesting to access the documents and list of people who will be allocated land, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tri, Deputy Director of the company, refused to provide them, and explained: It has been sent to the investor.

Why is the worker housing project in Hung Hoa behind schedule? Mr. Tri explained: “The company has built the infrastructure, but in 2007, the province directed to stop for inspection. A series of projects in the area had to be temporarily stopped, not just the worker housing project of Vinaconex 16 Construction Joint Stock Company…”. He asked again, is it possible that the province directed to stop the inspection for a worker housing project for 8 years? Perhaps seeing that his previous answer was not accurate, Mr. Tri corrected: “There was a directive from the province to stop the inspection, but at the same time, during this period, the company encountered difficulties, so the project was delayed.” And he explained: “In the delay in implementing the worker housing project in Hung Hoa, the company is at fault with Ms. Hoa.

So we have calculated that when the State plans and divides the land plots for housing in the collective housing area in lane 20, the company will arrange for Ms. Hoa to temporarily stay at the company. This year, the worker housing project in Hung Hoa has also been restarted, the province only needs to approve the price to basically complete. Ms. Hoa is the one who has suffered disadvantages, the company will consider taking on part of the land contributions when she is allocated land...". So when will the land price be approved, or is this also the way the company has responded to Ms. Hoa for the past 8 years? "I cannot be exact about this. Only the director can answer..." - Mr. Tri replied.

At the People's Committee of Hung Binh Ward, we were shown a list of 36 people proposed to be allocated land for housing in the collective housing area in lane 20, Le Hong Phong Street and some related documents. According to Mr. Nguyen Tat Au, a land officer, the collective housing area in lane 20 is divided into 2 areas and 1 household lives on the road so they have to be resettled. In which, one area consists of 21 households whose houses were valued by the company before July 1, 2004, and they are living stably but they cannot present invoices and documents; another area consists of 14 households (where Ms. Hoa is living), with full invoices and documents but their houses were valued by the company after July 1, 2004, and they only paid off the valuation money in 2011.

“In resolving land issues in collective housing areas, this and that always happen. According to our authority, we have also asked the company to report on the cases proposed for land allocation; at the same time, we have also checked and reviewed. According to the company's report, those proposed for land allocation are all their staff and workers. Through our inspection, all 36 people whose houses were priced by the company do not have land in Hung Binh ward; 32 people are living in collective housing and have household registration in Lien Co block, Hung Binh ward; the remaining 4 people, due to the deterioration of their houses, are temporarily living elsewhere. Question: Is there a situation where someone already has a house but the company still proposed to consider land allocation, leading to unfairness? “Regarding this issue, the file has been sent to the city and will be further checked by the professional department…” - Mr. Nguyen Tat Au replied. And he said: “Regarding Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa's case, if the company is really interested in bringing If you are on the list for land allocation approval, we will do it because in 2014 the ward adjusted the planning. Now the documents are complete, the competent authority has approved, it is too late for Ms. Hoa to have an opinion now...

Talking to Ms. Hoa about the company's information that "in 2013, they just moved her to the collective housing area in lane 20" and the "lateness" as the land officer of Hung Binh ward discussed. She said: "In 2009, the company announced that it would take the collective housing area in Truong Tien block, next to Huynh Thuc Khang High School, to rent to someone to run a restaurant. I had to submit an application to the company. Then on October 20, 2010, I was arranged to live in an empty house in the collective housing area in lane 20. That's the story, they made excuses and that just to shirk responsibility. So I have to write an application to request the city to consider my case...".

Obviously, Ms. Hoa's request for a piece of land for long-term stable residence is legitimate and the responsibility for this belongs to Vinaconex 16 Construction Joint Stock Company. It is thought that the process of making a list for consideration of land allocation in residential area No. 20 of Vinaconex 16 Construction Joint Stock Company was fair and to the right subjects or not is something that the functional department of Vinh City People's Committee should check and clarify. As for Vinaconex 16 Construction Joint Stock Company, if it is found that it has made a mistake towards Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, it needs to show responsibility with a clear commitment. It is impossible to shirk responsibility with just words, and then let her wait forever in vain!

Nhat Lan