Simmering dispute over forest land on Cam mountain, Chau Hoi commune (Quy Chau)
Cam Mountain is the name of the mountain range that separates Chau Hoi and Chau Binh communes of Quy Chau district (Nghe An). On Cam Mountain, located in Chau Hoi commune, it is said that since around 2010, a dispute over forest land has arisen, and has been simmering until now...
Recorded on Cam Mountain
We went to Cam Mountain, Chau Hoi Commune in October 2024, after the Nghe An Newspaper hotline received information that there was a potential for forest land disputes here.
Going to the top of Cam mountain, it is easy to see that this is a vast land, very favorable for developing forestry economy. Confirming this, the accompanying officers said that because of this, there is a dispute over forest land between the people of Khum village, Chau Hoi commune andThanh Thanh Dat Company Limited- Enterprises leased land by the State in 2009.
According to Hoang Viet Hung - an expert from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quy Chau district, the Cam mountain forestry land was previously managed by Co Ba Forestry Farm.
In 2002, after Co Ba Forestry returned the land, the Provincial People's Committee transferred it to the People's Committee of Quy Chau District. Around 2007, InnoGren Company surveyed and then applied to lease the land, but in 2009, the Provincial People's Committee leased the land to Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited with an area of over 242 hectares to grow raw material forests.
At this time, within the area, some households in Khum village, Chau Hoi commune had set up camps to raise livestock and farm in Canh stream, causing disputes.
In 2010, when Thanh Thanh Dat Company organized acacia planting, many households in Khum village came up to uproot the trees, leading to conflicts. Because of this incident, in 2011, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district had to establish a team to inspect and handle the situation.
However, the dispute has not been resolved, so it has been prolonged. As of 2021, Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited has only been able to plant 42 hectares out of 242 hectares of leased land, the rest is being encroached upon and used by Khum villagers...
In 2021, when Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited organized acacia harvesting, the land dispute problem flared up again. Wherever the company harvested, the people of Khum village organized to occupy the land to grow acacia. Due to the complicated nature, the District People's Committee established an interdisciplinary inspection team, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment also organized to inspect and verify the incident...
“On Cam mountain, the old acacia areas belong to Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited, while the young acacia areas belong to the people of Khum village. Along Canh stream, there are some households setting up camps to raise livestock, farm and look after the acacia forests…”, said Mr. Hoang Viet Hung.
On the way, we stopped by Mr. Luong Van Nam’s camp. Here, in addition to Mr. Nam’s family, there were also some women from Khum village who came to work on the glue tree to stay. Knowing that there were “cadres”, Mr. Nam took the initiative to talk about many things. From the dispute over forest land, to him representing the people of Khum village to petition about land issues.
Notably, Mr. Nam informed that before Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited was leased land by the State, there were 6 households in Khe Canh village organizing production and raising livestock. “Our grandfathers and fathers came to Khe Canh to do business. Before 2009, there were 6 households. By 2011, 16 more households in Khum village went to Cam mountain to keep their land. Now there are many, perhaps almost all households in Khum village have gone to Cam mountain to keep their land to grow acacia...”, said Mr. Luong Van Nam.
And together with the people in the camp, Mr. Luong Van Nam affirmed that the people of Khum village will continue to keep the land, not allowing Thanh Thanh Dat Company to replant after exploitation...
Complex problem
In Quy Chau district and Chau Hoi commune, we had access to many related documents to know more specifically about the developments of the forest land dispute on Cam mountain.
Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited was leased land by the Provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 446/QD-UBND.DC dated October 12, 2009 with an area of over 888.2 hectares; of which, in Sub-area 190, Chau Hoi Commune, the area is 242.39 hectares. In 2010, Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited planted 76 hectares of acacia. By December 2011, households in Khum village cut down acacia trees to encroach on the land.
At this time, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district directed the People's Committee of Chau Hoi commune and Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited to resolve the issue many times but without success.
Therefore, on December 14, 2011, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district organized a meeting and issued Conclusion Notice No. 32/TB-UBND to resolve the case. However, from 2011 to about December 2020, households in Khum village occupied Thanh Thanh Dat Company's land with an area of about 200 hectares to plant acacia.
On this area, people have planted and harvested 1 crop of acacia; planted the second crop about 3-4 years old; the actual area that Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited only uses is about 42 hectares.
In 2021, Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited organized the exploitation of an area of 42 hectares of acacia for replanting. On June 24, 2021, about 70 people from Khum village invaded and planted acacia on the newly exploited land of the company with an encroached area of about 3 hectares.
Quy Chau District People's Committee assigned Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited and Chau Hoi Commune People's Committee to issue a notice, requesting households to collect their crops. However, the households did not comply. However, when Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited organized to collect the crops, more than 80 people came up to prevent it.
On July 22, 2022, upon receiving a document from Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited reporting on land encroachment by Khum villagers, the Provincial People's Committee directed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to investigate and clarify the incident.
On August 18, 2022, after clarifying the related contents, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district stated that for the area of 42 hectares that is being encroached upon, it is proposed to strictly handle it; for the area of 200 hectares that people have encroached upon from 2010 - 2012, it is proposed that Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited consider returning it so that Quy Chau district can hand it over to households that still lack production land, stabilizing local security and order.
At the same time, recommend the Department of Natural Resources and Environment report to the Provincial People's Committee to assign Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited to review and reconsider the land use needs of the 200-hectare area that Khum villagers have occupied...
On February 24, 2023, during the working session of Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Hoang Nghia Hieu (now Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council), the Standing Committee of the Quy Chau District Party Committee requested the province to direct relevant departments, branches and Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited to consider returning 200 hectares of land that some households in Khum village, Chau Hoi commune had encroached on since 2011 - 2012 so that the district could allocate land to households that had not been allocated land for production.
On March 9, 2023, the Provincial Party Committee issued Notice No. 841-TB/TU, in which, the concluding opinion of comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu on this content was announced: "Assign the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee to lead the Provincial People's Committee to preside over working with departments, branches, Quy Chau district, and related units to consider and resolve".
On March 17, 2023, the Provincial People's Committee issued Document No. 1808/UBND-TH implementing Notice No. 841-TB/TU of the Provincial Party Committee...
Need to resolve once and for all
On October 10, 2024, because the above issue has not been completely resolved, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district issued Document No. 1250/UBND-TNMT to the Provincial People's Committee. Here, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district continued to propose that the Provincial People's Committee direct Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited to "consider returning and reducing the land lease area for the area of 200 hectares of land that has been encroached by the people to the locality for management to ensure peace for the people, stabilize the situation, and prevent hot spots in land disputes in the district".
In response to the proposal of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district, on October 11, 2024, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 8935/UBND-NN assigning the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to consider returning the land area that households in Khum village encroached and occupied to plant acacia to local management.
On the side of Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited, on October 14, 2024, there was Official Dispatch No. 87/CV-TTD, stating that currently the land use right certificate related to an area of 242 hectares in Chau Hoi commune is mortgaged at Nghe An Investment and Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank, so "The Company must remove the mortgage registration before returning the above area to the State for management...".
Carrying out the tasks assigned by the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment issued Document No. 7388/STNMT-QLDD dated October 18, 2024 to Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited, Nghe An Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development and the Provincial Land Registration Office, requesting attention to handling the mortgage records of Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited.
However, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment requested these units to coordinate and submit the results before October 31, 2024, but so far there has been no response...