About to relocate, people still 'race' to expand their houses to pay compensation

(Baonghean) - Households in Hamlet 4, Nghi Yen Commune, Nghi Loc, once participated in blocking vehicles and preventing businesses from transporting and gathering waste to the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex and requested to move to a new place soon. Now that the Provincial People's Committee has approved, many households have built new structures and expanded their properties on their land, causing difficulties in the work of counting and compensating for assets.

In mid-November, in Hamlet 4, Nghi Yen Commune, Nghi Loc District, many households in the hamlet competed to buy materials, organize new construction, and expand constructions on their land. A long stretch of the main road into the hamlet was blocked by newly-assembled bricks and sand.

When asked why people previously wanted to relocate early to avoid environmental pollution, but now that their wishes have been fulfilled, they are building new and expanding structures, some people answered: "When children get married, they have to move out and live separately", "houses built a long time ago now have to be plastered to live in", "have to build outbuildings for daily activities", "build pens to raise pigs and cows"...

Many households in Hamlet 4, Nghi Yen Commune have raced to gather materials to build new and expand projects.

Construction is taking place quite urgently, households are building solid houses, temporary houses, outbuildings, facilities for livestock farming... There are houses that have not been lived in for a long time but have been built with new houses and raised walls. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Ngoc - in Hamlet 4, who is completing his house, confided: "When I heard about the compensation project, I discussed with my wife about my in-laws mobilizing a relative to lend me a few million. I have borrowed 28 million to build a house. When I receive compensation, I will pay it back. I believe that the government will support people to have a stable life."

That is the thinking of many households in Hamlet 4, Nghi Yen Commune, who are building new and preparing to build and expand their projects. This makes many people in Hamlet 4 disagree. Mr. Ho Sy Thanh - a resident of Hamlet 4 said: "Many people used to block cars to demand relocation, now they build new and expand to make profit. It's really a bad apple spoiling the barrel."

Upon discovering the actions of many households in Hamlet 4, Nghi Yen Commune, building new and expanding works, on November 18, Nghi Loc District People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 1873/UBND-TNMT requesting Nghi Yen Commune People's Committee, relevant district-level departments and agencies to immediately implement contents to maintain the current land use status for affected households in the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex project area, serving the work of site clearance to relocate households in the affected area according to Notice 660/TB-UBND dated November 7 of the Provincial People's Committee.

Mr. Pham Manh Cuong's family built a house for his daughter and her husband on their garden land when the land had not been divided into plots.

The District People's Committee directed the Nghi Yen Commune People's Committee to publicly announce Notice 660 of the Provincial People's Committee to each household within the scope of influence of the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex. Households must maintain the current status and are not allowed to build new structures or expand structures on their land.

Construction works arising after November 8, 2016 (after the dialogue with households to notify Conclusion 660 dated November 7 of the Provincial People's Committee Chairman) will not be counted and compensation plans will be made when the State reclaims land.

Nghi Yen Commune People's Committee must regularly inspect and closely monitor the current land use status of households subject to resettlement; make records of administrative violations and request violating households to dismantle the construction and restore the status quo as before November 8.

Implementing the district's direction, on November 19, Nghi Yen Commune People's Committee coordinated with relevant district-level departments and branches to conduct a survey to record the current land use status of all 46 severely affected households wishing to relocate to the resettlement area; directly sent Official Dispatch No. 1873 of Nghi Loc District People's Committee. According to statistics on the morning of November 19, of the 46 households wishing to relocate, 14 households were constructing or expanding their works. Dozens of other households had also gathered materials and cleared the site to prepare for construction.

Nghi Yen Commune People's Committee held a meeting with households in Hamlet 4 who were to be relocated out of the affected area. The working delegation of the district and commune also once again reminded the Provincial People's Committee's Notice 660 on the conclusion of the Provincial People's Committee Chairman on issues related to waste treatment at Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex; reminded the Official Dispatch No. 1873 of Nghi Loc District People's Committee sent to households that day.

Households sign to confirm current land use status.

Through dialogue, the commune government has propagated and explained to households that the state will only consider compensation for previously stable architectural assets and will not compensate for new architectural assets arising after November 8.

The state will not agree to support compensation with households due to pressure to hand over land as in previous projects. For this project, the state will only reclaim land when households voluntarily move. Therefore, the construction and expansion of works today only wastes money and effort of each household and makes it difficult to count compensation support later.

Discussing the continued implementation of the contents of Notice 660 of the Provincial People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai - Vice Chairman of Nghi Loc District People's Committee said: "In the coming time, the District People's Committee will continue to direct relevant departments and agencies to work with Nghi Yen commune to select resettlement areas. At the same time, the district will report to the province to request permission to inventory and count architectural assets and compensate for 18 hectares of crop land that the province has allowed Nghi Yen commune to prepare compensation records according to the prescribed regime.

The district People's Committee will also work with Vinh city to request Nghe An Urban Environment and Construction Joint Stock Company and Galax Joint Stock Company to continue to complete the contents that the provincial People's Committee has directed to ensure a good environment for people living around the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex"./.

Nhat Tuan