Con Cuong: Over 4,800 land ownership certificates (red books) belonging to local residents remain outstanding.

From Chi Khe, Yen Khe…

In February 2023, the People's Committee of Con Cuong district directed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to establish a working group to conduct inspections in Chi Khe and Yen Khe communes; and to work with the Branch of the Land Registration Office on the work of receiving and appraising applications for new land registration.Issuance of replacement land use right certificate(Land use right certificates) issued to people after land surveying and mapping.

In Chi Khe commune, the Task Force determined that the consulting unit had processed 2,860 land registration dossiers (1,013 residential land dossiers, 1,847 agricultural land dossiers); the Commune People's Committee organized the review, and 2,566 dossiers were deemed eligible (796 residential land dossiers, 1,770 agricultural land dossiers). Subsequently, the Commune People's Committee handed over the dossiers to the Branch of the Land Registration Office for appraisal; however, 640 dossiers were returned (the Commune People's Committee had not yet provided the dossiers and appraisal documents). As of May 31, 2019, the number of eligible dossiers for signing land use right certificates in Chi Khe commune was 1,926 (571 residential land use right certificates, 1,355 agricultural land use right certificates); of which, 1,028 households and individuals received new certificates; and 809 households and individuals received replacement certificates. To date, the District Land Registration Office Branch has coordinated with the Chi Khe Commune People's Committee to organize two land use right certificate issuance sessions (one in 2019; one on October 29, 2022). During the session on October 29, 2022, the Chi Khe Commune People's Committee only coordinated with the District Land Registration Office Branch to inspect and assist in the recovery of land use right certificates; it did not have the data on the list and number of land use right certificates issued.

Cover art of the article "Regarding the issue of land ownership certificates being 'suspended' in Con Cuong" on Nghe An Online Newspaper.

The inspection also confirmed that on October 27, 2020, the Branch Office of the Land Registration Office handed over 879 land use right certificates (360 residential land use right certificates and 519 agricultural land use right certificates) to the People's Committee of Chi Khe commune, requesting them to be distributed to the people.

However, the People's Committee of Chi Khe commune only issued 94 land use right certificates to households and individuals in the area. By August 2022, the People's Committee of Chi Khe commune handed over 785 land use right certificates to the Branch of the Land Registration Office for management.

In Yen Khe commune, a total of 3,205 applications for land use right certificates were submitted (1,536 for residential land and 1,699 for agricultural land). The commune People's Committee received 1,639 applications from the consulting unit and reviewed them (799 for residential land and 840 for agricultural land). The review resulted in 1,590 applications meeting the requirements (754 for residential land and 836 for agricultural land), while 49 applications were deemed ineligible. Upon checking copies of the land use right certificate registers in the commune, it was determined that as of June 30, 2022, 1,473 land use right certificates for households and individuals in Yen Khe commune had been signed.

The District Land Registration Office branch and the People's Committee of Yen Khe commune have organized three land use right certificate handover ceremonies for people in nine villages (two ceremonies in 2019, the final one on June 30, 2022). A total of 833 land use right certificates have been handed over (333 certificates for residential land and 500 certificates for agricultural land).

There are still 640 land use right certificates that have not been handed over to the people (60 residential land use right certificates, 580 agricultural land use right certificates) that have been transferred to the Branch Office of the Land Registration Office for management.

Ms. Luong Thi Nho (residing in Lien Dinh village, Chi Khe commune, Con Cuong district) recounts receiving her land use right certificate. Photo: NL

Upon inspection, the Task Force assessed that the Chi Khe Commune People's Committee had shortcomings such as failing to provide supporting documents for the review of 2,860 applications in the commune; and failing to provide information on archived records of applications that did not meet the requirements, as approved by the Commune People's Committee, and applications that did not meet the requirements and were returned by the Branch Office of the Land Registration Office.

The work of reviewing and understanding the situation and reasons why households and individuals in the commune have not yet been granted land certificates has not received adequate attention, and currently the causes of each case have not been categorized.

The Yen Khe Commune People's Committee has several shortcomings, including a low number of land use right certificates issued to households and individuals in the area, a significant backlog of certificates (640 out of 1,473 certificates, accounting for 43.45%), and a limited number of land use right certificate issuance sessions conducted by the Land Registration Office. Since June 30, 2022, no further land use right certificate issuance sessions have been held in the commune. When residents need certificates, the Commune People's Committee directs them to the District Branch of the Land Registration Office to receive them. The Commune People's Committee has not reviewed, assessed, or specifically categorized the backlog of certificates; it has not coordinated effectively with the consulting unit and the District Branch of the Land Registration Office to monitor the progress of land use right certificate issuance to residents in the area, as well as the number of ineligible applications returned. Consequently, at the time of inspection, the Commune People's Committee lacked specific data.

Document No. 267/UBND-TNMT dated March 20, 2023, from the People's Committee of Con Cuong District, includes a request for the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee to consider inspecting the Party Cell of the Land Registration Office Branch.

...to the Branch Office of the Land Registration Office

Regarding the Con Cuong District Land Registration Office Branch, when the Task Force requested a meeting, they only agreed to discuss the issuance of land use right certificates; they refused to discuss the receiving, appraisal, and handover of documents. The reason given was that this work had been completed, and they had a lot of professional work to do, so they didn't have time to search for the files.

Through the work, it was determined that a total of 16,226 land use right certificates have been signed and handed over to land users throughout the district. From September 2018 to October 2022, the Land Registration Office Branch issued several documents and plans regarding the handover of land use right certificates to people in the communes of the district. In addition, it coordinated with the People's Committees of the communes to hand over land use right certificates to people in villages and hamlets. However, to date, only 11,367 land use right certificates have been handed over; 4,859 land use right certificates remain outstanding.

The working group assessed that the Land Registration Office Branch has shortcomings and limitations in the process of issuing land use right certificates to the people. Specifically, a large number of land use right certificates remain unissued; the number of certificate issuance events organized for the people is limited. The Branch has not coordinated well with the People's Committees of the communes to review, compile lists, and clarify the reasons for each household and individual's situation, thereby failing to promptly propose measures and solutions to complete the task of issuing land use right certificates to the people; in some localities, there are no handover records for the land use right certificates handed over to the People's Committees of the communes for distribution to the people.

Document No. 612/VPĐK-ĐK&CGCN dated March 30, 2023, from the Provincial Land Registration Office requests district-level land registration office branches to report on the situation regarding the issuance of land use right certificates.

Furthermore, the Land Registration Office Branch has not implemented the requirements of Official Letter No. 1134/UBND.TN dated September 22, 2022, from the District People's Committee effectively. Specifically, the District People's Committee requested the Branch to develop a plan to issue outstanding land certificates to households and individuals in the district, to be completed no later than October 31, 2022.

Although the Branch has implemented the plan (issued documents and implementation plans, and distributed them in the communes), many land use right certificates remain outstanding…

Speaking with a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper on April 4th, a representative of the Con Cuong District People's Committee stated that the Land Registration Office branch refused to work with the task force on the procedures for receiving, appraising, and handing over land use right certificates, only focusing on the issuance of these certificates. Furthermore, they claimed that the delay in issuing certificates was due to the communes not requesting them, and that the number of eligible cases was very small.

Therefore, the Task Force recommends that the District People's Committee direct and propose to the competent authorities to inspect the work of receiving, appraising, handing over, and storing files and newly issued or renewed land use right certificates; especially to inspect the work of storing and handing over files and cases that do not meet the conditions for granting land use right certificates at the Branch of the Land Registration Office.

Ms. Luong Thi Nho (residing in Lien Dinh village, Chi Khe commune, Con Cuong district) and her land use right certificate signed in 2018 but only received in 2022. Photo: Nhat Lan

The representative of the Con Cuong District People's Committee further stated that recently, the leaders of the Provincial Land Registration Office had worked with the Branch of the Land Registration Office. The purpose of the meeting was to rectify the unit's operations, provide guidance on resolving some outstanding issues, and request a report explaining the backlog of 4,859 signed land use right certificates. Regarding the Con Cuong District Party Committee's Inspection Committee, after being assigned the task by the District Party Committee Standing Committee, it has established an inspection team and announced the decision.Inspection of the Party Branch of the Land Registration Office./.

Nhat Lan