68 households in the fishing village along the Lam River will be granted land ownership certificates in February 2025.

The issuance of land ownership certificates will be completed in February 2025.

In mid-January, residents of the fishing village along the Lam River in Dang Son commune received notification from the local authorities that they would be granted land use rights certificates in the coming days.

“After nearly 13 years of waiting, this day has finally arrived. We are all very excited. Without land ownership certificates for so long, the lives of our people have been very difficult,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Quang, 73 years old.

These are the households that Nghe An Newspaper reported on in its article."The resettlement village of fishermen along the Lam River is weary of waiting for land ownership certificates."Published on December 18, 2024. Accordingly, in 2012, a resettlement project for fishing families on the Lam River was implemented in Dang Son commune, with a total investment of 6.5 billion VND. 68 families who had lived on the river for generations finally had land to build houses and stabilize their lives. However, they were still not granted land ownership certificates, causing many inconveniences, especially for those who needed loans.

Local authorities claim the reason is that "relevant project documents cannot be found," while they also do not know which entity is the investor of this project. According to the land use plan of Do Luong district until 2030, approved by the Provincial People's Committee, the resettlement land is planned for rural residential purposes.

Although 68 households were allocated resettlement land on-site in 2012, the land allocation decisions and on-site land allocation records cannot be found. Furthermore, there is no approved detailed land plot plan for resettlement by the competent authority. Therefore, there is no basis to determine the specific area allocated to each household as a basis for issuing land use right certificates.

According to Mr. Bui Nguyen Hai, Chairman of the People's Committee of Dang Son commune, after Nghe An Newspaper published an article reflecting on the issue, the competent authorities have issued directives. Mr. Hai also said that this is not only good news for the fishermen but also for the People's Committee of the commune. Because in recent years, the fishermen have often raised this issue in meetings, but the commune lacked the authority to resolve it.

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We are currently preparing the necessary documents to invite the fishing village residents to come in for a meeting. We expect to complete the paperwork after the Lunar New Year and submit it to the Do Luong District People's Committee for the issuance of land use rights certificates to the villagers in February.

Mr. Bui Nguyen Hai - Chairman of the People's Committee of Dang Son Commune (Do Luong District)

Is the project's developer unclear?

Regarding this incident, immediately after Nghe An Newspaper published its report, the Department of Information and Communications sent a document requesting the Chairman of the People's Committee of Do Luong District to verify and clarify the contents of the report.

In a recent response from the People's Committee of Do Luong District, the district leaders stated that on July 8, 2024, the People's Committee of Do Luong District issued a document to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment requesting guidance on resolving the issue of granting land use rights certificates to the fishing village in Dang Son commune. On November 25, 2024, the People's Committee of Do Luong District issued a similar document to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment but still received no response.

On December 19, 2024, following an article published by Nghe An Newspaper, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment issued a document providing guidance on resolving the issue. Accordingly, the department requested the People's Committee of Do Luong district to review the actual land use status of the households based on the 2017 cadastral map of the commune to determine the area for granting land use rights certificates to the households in accordance with regulations.

Subsequently, on December 30, 2024, the People's Committee of Do Luong District issued a document instructing the People's Committee of Dang Son Commune to re-examine the actual land use status of 68 households for comparison. If the actual area being used differs from the 2017 survey map, the District Land Registration Office Branch is requested to re-measure the land to serve as the basis for preparing the application for land use right certificates. "Guide the fishing village households in need of land use right certificates to complete the required documents, handle the issues within their authority, and request the District People's Committee to issue land use right certificates to the households in need before February 28, 2025," the document from the People's Committee of Do Luong District stated.

However, the response from the People's Committee of Do Luong District did not mention who the investor of this project was. When asked about the responsibility of individuals and units involved in allocating resettlement land without official decisions or records, Mr. Tran Van Hien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Do Luong District, stated that because the records were no longer available, it was impossible to identify the investor and assign responsibility.

Mr. Hien had previously asserted that the Rural Development Sub-Department was the investor of this project; however, the sub-department's leadership denied this and stated that the People's Committee of Do Luong District was the actual investor.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Director of the Investment and Construction Project Management Board of Do Luong District, said that after reviewing the case, it was confirmed that the District People's Committee is the investor of the project. Previously, Mr. Cuong also affirmed that the district was not involved in this project.

Tien Hung - My Ha