Government Inspectorate: Agrees to let Ha Tinh lease land to foreigners for 70 years

On the afternoon of March 25, the Government Inspectorate had an official working session with Ha Tinh province, regarding the conclusion of the inspection of economic projects. Accordingly, Ha Tinh maintained the 70-year land lease term.

Ha Tinh maintains 70-year land lease for foreign enterprises

Previously, on March 3, Infonet published an article titled “Ha Tinh responds to the case of “exceeding the Government’s authority to lease land to foreign enterprises”, reflecting the content of some press agencies reporting that the Government Inspectorate (GIA) concluded that there were many serious violations in Ha Tinh during the implementation of economic projects.

Specifically, the investment and construction project of the Son Duong Steel Complex and Deep-water Port (Formosa project) invested by Taiwan's Formosa Steel Corporation was granted an investment license by the Vung Ang Economic Zone Management Board for a term of 70 years.

Therefore, Ha Tinh's violation of the Government's authority to lease land for up to 70 years is a very serious violation. Immediately afterwards, the Ha Tinh Inspectorate "counterattacked" the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate, affirming that leasing land to Formosa for 70 years was in accordance with regulations.

On the afternoon of March 25, the Government Inspectorate announced Inspection Conclusion No. 1538/KL-TTCP dated July 3, 2014 of the Government Inspectorate on basic construction investment and land management and use for a number of projects in Ha Tinh province.

The announcement of the conclusion was chaired by Mr. Nguyen Duc Hanh, Deputy General Inspectorate of the Government. Secretary and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Mr. Vo Kim Cu and leaders of departments and branches were also present at the meeting.

The Government Inspectorate had an official working session and announced the inspection conclusion on the afternoon of March 25.

At the meeting, Mr. Ngo Chi Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Complaints and Inspection of Region II, TTCP, announced conclusion No. 1538 on "Compliance with the law on investment in basic construction and land management and use for a number of projects in Ha Tinh" in which he pointed out serious violations of Ha Tinh province as previously reported by Infonet Newspaper.

Mr. Thanh emphasized that at the time the Government Inspectorate inspected economic projects in this province, specifically Formosa, the Government had not agreed to let this foreign enterprise lease land for a term of more than 50 years, according to regulations.

The representative of TTCP also pointed out that this is a project located in a rather sensitive area (a seaport area related to national security and defense), so Ha Tinh's violation of the Government's authority to lease land for up to 70 years is a very serious violation.

The Government Inspectorate has requested the Ministry of Planning and Investment to preside over, review and handle the issuance of a 70-year investment certificate to Formosa Company in violation of Article 52 and related legal provisions.

The Government Inspectorate has pointed out serious violations in the province's economic projects, then announced three directives from the Prime Minister, agreeing with Ha Tinh province to lease land to foreign enterprises for a period of 70 years, and exempting resource tax for sand dredging and leveling activities of the project, and investors are entitled to a 60% environmental protection fee incentive for this activity.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy General Inspectorate of the Government, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hanh said that announcing the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate is a normal action according to the provisions of the Law on Inspection and the provisions of the Law on Anti-Corruption.

He affirmed that the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate is objective, "Through the inspection work, shortcomings in the state management mechanism have been identified. Thereby, it helps to improve state management, and recommends that state management agencies promptly supplement shortcomings."

Mr. Vo Kim Cu, Secretary and Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province, said that the province seriously accepted the contents according to the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate. Ha Tinh province also had a comprehensive and serious assessment and gave strong direction. "This is an opportunity for organizations and individuals to review themselves to see if they have done the right thing, to end the limitations and violations. We will conduct a serious and public review, and commit to correcting the violations. We request the Government Inspectorate to review the attitude of the leaders of Ha Tinh province," said Mr. Vo Kim Cu.

“We listen to and accept the direction of the Government Inspectorate. At the same time, we request that individuals and relevant departments conduct self-inspections to do better, and seriously review and review according to the direction of the Government Inspectorate and the Provincial People's Committee. We request that the Inspectorate continue to listen, urge, inspect and supervise us to properly implement the Inspectorate's conclusions,” Mr. Cu added.

Formosa construction site is being urgently deployed.

The Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province said that Ha Tinh's granting of a 70-year license to Formosa was based on the consent of the Government and the Ministry of Planning and Investment. However, the Deputy General Inspectorate of the Government reiterated that these two concepts should not be confused.

The Government and the Ministry of Planning and Investment agreed to lease land for 70 years to foreign enterprises after the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate. When the Prime Minister agreed with Ha Tinh to lease land to investors for 70 years, the Government Inspectorate fully agreed. If the Government Inspectorate goes against the Prime Minister's conclusion, it is a violation.

Deputy General Director of the Government Inspectorate also welcomed the leaders of Ha Tinh province in overcoming violations. Mr. Hanh also added that after witnessing the projects and constructions that violated the Government Inspectorate's previous report (2 years ago - PV), Ha Tinh province has now overcome and built many things.

According to the conclusion of the Government Inspectorate, during the inspection of 1,120 construction packages at 402 district-level projects, the department assigned by the Provincial People's Committee as the investor, the Government Inspectorate discovered that up to 664 packages (accounting for nearly 60%) were allowed by the Ha Tinh Provincial People's Committee to conduct restricted bidding and designated bidding contrary to the provisions of the Law on Bidding and the Law on Construction. Of which, 404 packages selected for restricted bidding were more than 60% behind schedule and had to compensate for materials and labor costs with an amount of more than 40 billion VND.

Conclusion of the Government Inspectorate, during the period from June 13, 2008 to December 31, 2012, the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province granted 30 mining licenses with a total area of ​​132.95 hectares of land outside the planning, not in accordance with the provisions of the law, violating the law on minerals.

According to Infonet