Land grabbing reoccurs in Chau Binh: Resolve conflicts once and for all!

Conflict

The fact that the people of Poom Lau village planted trees to occupy land on November 5, 2023 was reported by Nghe An Newspaper in the article "Poom Lau "hot" about forest land” (November 26, 2023).

The reason for this incident was that the land with encroachment status was reviewed by the People's Committee of Quy Chau district and Co Ba Forestry in 2017, and a roadmap was developed to return it to the locality in 2023. However, Co Ba Forestry lacked initiative in coordinating with the authorities of Quy Chau district and Chau Binh commune to implement the signed roadmap, leading to the people of Poom Lau planting trees and occupying land. In response to this incident, the District Party Committee and People's Committee of Quy Chau district clarified the cause, together with Song Hieu NLN One Member Co., Ltd., Co Ba Forestry agreed on a solution in the dialogue on November 6, that by the end of the first quarter of 2024 at the latest, Co Ba Forestry would return the land to the locality.

The above plan created consensus among the people of Poom Lau village, however, on November 25, also in Chau Binh commune, some people of Dong Cong village carried out similar acts. They organized tree planting and occupied land in the newly harvested acacia hill area, covering an area of ​​about 8 hectares. To find out the reason, a resident of Dong Cong village, Mr. Pham Xuan Tinh, said that the land the people encroached on was managed by Co Ba Forestry Farm, however, the producer was a former leader of the forest farm and did not live in Quy Chau district. “People know that land occupation is wrong. But people think that if the forest farm lets people from outside the area do it, they can do it too…”, said Mr. Pham Xuan Tinh.

At the time of the incident, Mr. Pham Quang Tan - Head of Dong Cong village was on medical treatment and was not in the area. However, through information, Mr. Tan confirmed that the incident had the same cause as Mr. Pham Van Tinh had discussed...

In Chau Binh commune, on December 1, 2023, cadastral officer Nguyen Van Quang said that the Party Committee and authorities quickly grasped information about the incident in Dong Cong village. Thanks to that, they promptly reported to the District Party Committee and People's Committee of Quy Chau district to organize a trip to the scene to stabilize the situation, not allowing hot spots to arise. Regarding the origin of the land that Dong Cong villagers encroached on November 25, according to Mr. Quang, it belongs to plot 174, map sheet number 4, with a total area of ​​about 11 hectares (about 2.9 hectares have been granted land use right certificates). Shown on the cadastral map, it is managed by Co Ba Forestry, and is not included in the plan to return it to the locality. Regarding the land user, the former leader of Co Ba Forestry has retired and does not live in the district.

According to Mr. Quang, when the district leaders arrived at the scene, the people expressed their opinion that the land managed by the forestry department but allowed outsiders to use it like that was not in accordance with the law.

Upon receiving the information, Secretary and Chairman of the District People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Hoai discussed that the district will review and re-determine. In case the land is under the management of the forestry farm; the households that are producing are not eligible for the State to allocate forestry land, the district will recommend competent authorities to reclaim and hand it over to the locality. At the same time, it is required that during the review period, no one is allowed to plant trees or encroach on the land.

“When people heard the district leaders talk like that, they agreed…”, said Mr. Nguyen Van Quang.

Forestry committed to return land

In the article "Poom Lau "hot" about forest land", Nghe An Newspaper reported that after the dialogue on November 6, 2023 organized by the People's Committee of Quy Chau district, Co Ba Forestry Farm submitted Document No. 368/TT-LT dated November 7, 2023 requesting to return the land to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and Song Hieu Agricultural Forestry Company Limited. The land area that Co Ba Forestry Farm requested to return includes plots No. 71, 85, 89, 112, map sheet No. 1, Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau district, with a total area of ​​more than 81.5 hectares.

Also on December 1, 2023, Director of Co Ba Forestry Farm - Mr. Dang Van Nghi said that the Forestry Farm agreed to return the entire land area according to Decree No. 118/ND-CP (which was jointly reviewed and agreed upon by Song Hieu Agricultural Forestry Company Limited, Quy Chau District People's Committee, Chau Binh Commune People's Committee on January 14, 2017) to the locality. "As a business located in the area, we do not want people to misunderstand, leading to unnecessary conflicts...", Director Dang Van Nghi discussed.

What the Director of Co Ba Forestry Farm discussed is shown in the Submission No. 386/TTr-LT dated November 22, 2023 requesting to return the land to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and Song Hieu Agricultural Forestry Company Limited; Notice No. 389/TB-LT dated November 25, 2023 on "Co Ba Forestry Farm returning the land to local management" sent to the People's Committee of Chau Binh commune.

In Document No. 386/TTr-LT, Co Ba Forestry Farm requested Song Hieu Agricultural Forestry Company Limited to submit to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to advise the Provincial People's Committee to reclaim an area of ​​95.64 hectares (including plots 208, 108, 259, 221, 125, 167, 173, 203, 179, 321, 340 of map sheet No. 4) to return to the locality. In Notice No. 389/TB-LT, Co Ba Forestry informed the People's Committee of Chau Binh commune that the forestry had submitted 2 Reports No. 368/TT-LT dated November 7, 2023, Report No. 386/TTr-LT dated November 22, 2023, requesting competent authorities to reclaim land with a total area of ​​177.2 hectares (in Bang Met area, Sub-area 193, and the areas of Sub-areas 198, 200, 217).

Co Ba Forest Enterprise affirmed that according to the land use plan of the forest enterprise approved by the Provincial People's Committee, the area with a plan to return, but no decision to reclaim the land is 192.2 hectares; after returning 177.2 hectares, there are only 15 hectares of meter forest in Sub-area 193 that have not been returned in this period. "Co Ba Forest Enterprise informs the People's Committee of Chau Binh Commune, propagates to the people to ensure security and order in the area" - Co Ba Forest Enterprise proposed to the People's Committee of Chau Binh Commune in Notice No. 389/TB-LT.

Asked about the incident involving the people of Dong Cong village on November 25, according to Mr. Dang Van Nghi, the household that the people questioned was a former leader of the forestry farm; regarding the land involved, after reviewing the land records, it was determined that from 2003 to the present, it was not under the management of the forestry farm. Also according to Mr. Dang Van Nghi, the planting of production forests by the former leader of the forestry farm is a historical issue, and there was an exchange: "Up to this point, in my opinion, the household that is using the land should voluntarily return the land to the locality...".

Urgent handling!

Grasping information from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, it is known that after receiving 2 Requests for land return from Song Hieu Agricultural Forestry Company Limited and Co Ba Forestry Farm, the Department issued Document No. 8222/STNMT-QLDD dated November 17, 2023, Document No. 8560/STNMT-QLDD dated November 29, 2023 to the People's Committee of Quy Chau district and Song Hieu Agricultural Forestry Company Limited. Accordingly, in order to have a basis to advise the Provincial People's Committee to recover land in accordance with regulations, without arising complaints, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment requests the People's Committee of Quy Chau district to preside over and coordinate with Song Hieu Agricultural Forestry Company Limited, Chau Binh Commune People's Committee and related units to inspect and clearly report on the origin, land users; current status of land use and complaints and disputes (if any) related to the land area proposed for recovery.

On the side of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district, it has reviewed the current status, origin, and land users of the land plots proposed to be recovered from Song Hieu Agricultural Forestry Company Limited in Bang Met area, Sub-area 193 at the request of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Official Dispatch No. 8222/STNMT-QLDD dated November 17, 2023; and on November 29, 2023, a report was sent to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quy Chau district - Mr. Tran Bao Linh said that in the coming days, the district will continue to organize the review of the land areas that Co Ba Forestry Farm requested to return in Document No. 386/TTr-LT dated November 22, 2023 to report to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment as required in Official Dispatch No. 8560/STNMT-QLDD dated November 29, 2023. After that, the land area where some Dong Cong villagers have planted trees and encroached will be inspected and reviewed to come up with a solution. “These are quite complicated tasks that require meticulousness and precision, but the district will try to focus on completing them to completely handle this problem…”, Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Bao Linh discussed.

Talking with the Chairman of Chau Binh Commune People's Committee - Mr. Le Van Toan, he said that there are still many households in the area directly engaged in agricultural production but lack land resources for production; some households have been allocated forestry land, but the allocated land is natural forest that cannot be used for production. Therefore, Mr. Le Van Toan said: "We hope that the competent authorities of the province will direct Song Hieu Agricultural Forestry Company Limited and Co Ba Forestry Farm to complete the land handover roadmap, so that the authorities of Quy Chau district and Chau Binh commune can hand over the land to the people...".