Northern wards of Nghe An thoroughly handle illegal construction works

Violations both old and new

After the process of merging and reorganizing the commune-level administrative units, the Hoang Mai area (old) now has only 3 wards: Hoang Mai, Tan Mai and Quynh Mai. These are areas that are developing rapidly in the direction of urbanization, leading to an increasing demand for housing, land and infrastructure. However, the situation of violations of construction order and illegal construction has also increased.

In Dong Quan area, Dong Minh village, old Quynh Lap commune, now Tan Mai ward, there have been many cases of illegal house foundations and frames being built on land located entirely within the Dong Hoi Industrial Park planning area. These house foundations are built on land for perennial crops and other annual crops, which have not been converted into residential land.

It is worth mentioning that Dong Hoi Industrial Park announced its planning in 2010, but it has not been implemented yet. This has led to difficulties for local residents in dividing plots and converting land use purposes. Meanwhile, the population is growing and the demand for housing construction is increasing, so people have disregarded the regulations and "recklessly" built houses in Dong Quan area, which they had previously purchased. According to observations, there have been at least 10 constructions in this area that violate planning.

Not only the old violations, right at the time of implementing the process of converting the administrative model and structure between the old commune and ward levels and the new ward from the end of June and the beginning of July 2025, in the areas of Son Long and Tan Thanh villages (belonging to the old Quynh Lap commune), now also belonging to Tan Mai ward, many households took advantage of the situation to illegally build on agricultural land, planned land and traffic corridor land.

Specifically, in Son Long village, there is the family of Mr. Nguyen Quoc Trung; the family of Mrs. Le Hoi Ho; and in Tan Thanh village, there are households such as Mr. Bui Van Nhat; Mr. Nguyen Van Thuc; Mrs. Le Thi Hue; Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thuy who have built houses, auxiliary works, and surrounding walls on agricultural land or reclaimed land that has not been permitted to change its purpose of use. Despite being propagandized and mobilized, some households still deliberately do not comply. In that situation, the ward authorities have drawn up a record, issued an administrative handling decision, and organized a complete demolition. Notably, the violating constructions are not only temporary in nature but have been invested in and built quite solidly, greatly affecting long-term urban management.

Or in Tan Phong block, an area formerly belonging to Quynh Phuong ward, now Quynh Mai ward, right at the time of transition between the old ward and commune authorities and the new authorities, there were 7 households: Ho Van Trung; Le Tien Vinh; Hoang Song Hao; Le Tien Quyet; Nguyen Thi Xuan; Nguyen Thi Tien; Nguyen Thi Huong, who arbitrarily built semi-permanent structures such as trading booths, temporary houses, fences... on agricultural land. These structures were built with unburnt bricks (dashboards), corrugated iron roofs, solid foundations, not in accordance with the planning and land use purpose. Immediately afterwards, the ward authorities organized an inspection of the current status, made a record of violations, and at the same time organized forces to dismantle and restore the original state of the land plots.

In Hoang Mai ward, there have also been cases of encroachment on the traffic safety corridor of the Hoang Mai river bank. Specifically, Mr. Dau Huy Doan's family, residing in Thinh My block (belonging to the old Quynh Thien ward), borrowed land from Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai's family (residing in the same block) to build a sports field, next to which is a small semi-permanent house with a hard foundation, built with unburnt bricks, roofed with corrugated iron, and fenced around the land area. However, Mr. Doan's family did not use the land boundary that had been granted a Certificate of Land Use Rights, violating the encroachment on the traffic safety corridor of the Hoang Mai river bank. After receiving the feedback and checking the current status, the Hoang Mai ward authorities mobilized the family to voluntarily dismantle and restore the original land status.

Resolutely handle

It can be seen that violations of planning and construction order not only affect the overall planning but also pose great challenges in land management and construction order in newly established localities from July 1, 2025.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong - Chairman of Tan Mai Ward People's Committee said: For new cases of violations arising right at the time of the transfer of the new government, the locality will resolutely handle them. As for cases of illegal construction on planned land in Dong Quan area, Dong Minh village, because these are problems left over from the past, the locality will find ways to resolve them step by step.

To prevent illegal construction in Dong Quan area, Quynh Lap Commune People's Committee previously had to set up checkpoints to prevent vehicles carrying materials from entering the illegal construction area. According to Ms. Huong, this was a case of force majeure by the old government, but now, the ward will assign functional forces and officials in charge to stay in the area to prevent new cases of illegal construction from arising. At the same time, propaganda will be stepped up so that people comply, avoiding illegal construction and then being demolished, causing economic losses to families. "As for cases of intentional violations, we will strictly handle them according to the provisions of the law," Ms. Huong emphasized.

Mr. Ho Van Cay - Chairman of Quynh Mai Ward People's Committee said: The recent cases of illegal construction in the ward were all carried out at the time of transition between the old and new government. After being reported by the people and discovered through inspection, the ward resolutely handled the case, absolutely not allowing the illegal constructions to exist. In addition to dismantling the structures on the violating land, Quynh Mai Ward authorities also used vehicles and machinery to dig out the entire foundation of the construction, avoiding the recurrence of violations.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pham Van Hao - Chairman of Hoang Mai Ward People's Committee emphasized: The resolute demolition of illegal constructions aims to strictly implement the direction of the Provincial People's Committee on strengthening land management and handling violations of construction order. In the coming time, Hoang Mai Ward People's Committee will continue to strengthen propaganda, patrol, inspection, supervision, promptly detect and strictly handle violations in land use management and construction order. At the same time, call on people to strictly comply with the provisions of the law to build the locality to be increasingly developed, sustainable and civilized.

It can be seen that the determination of the northern wards of the province to handle illegal constructions as soon as the new government was established showed great determination and will.

However, to completely resolve this situation, strategic and long-term solutions are needed. In particular, it is important to review the planning, propose adjustments to suspended planning areas that are no longer suitable; prioritize the allocation of resettlement land and residential land for affected people; step up propaganda work, instruct people to comply with the law; at the same time, strengthen the handling of responsibilities of local officials if violations occur for a long time without being detected or handled...

Tien Dong