The Standing Committee of Tuong Duong District Party Committee requested Khe Bo Hydropower Plant to completely resolve the long-standing problems and difficulties.

On the morning of November 16, the Standing Committee of Tuong Duong District Party Committee held a working session with Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Corporation, the investor of Khe Bo Hydropower Plant, to resolve the long-standing problems and obstacles in the project.Khe Bo Hydropower PlantMr. Nguyen Van Hai - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Secretary of Tuong Duong District Party Committee chaired the meeting.

Overview of the working session. Photo: D.C.

Many problems exist

According to the report, although Khe Bo Hydropower Plant has been in operation since 2013, until now the compensation work,resettlementSome items of the project are not yet completed, and there are still some problems.

Specifically, in Thach Giam town, the hydroelectric reservoir area, agricultural land plots have been measured but have not yet been recorded for compensation and support for agricultural land with 50 households/50 plots. The Lau - Mac - Nhan traffic route, the total number of plots that have not been compensated is 97 plots, currently has been publicly solicited for public opinion but the records have not yet been signed for approval according to regulations. The old Hoa Binh town (now Thach Giam town) has carried out compensation and support for land in the Khe Bo hydroelectric reservoir area for 83/92 affected households, the remaining 9 households have not agreed on the plan so have not yet signed the records.

In Tam Thai commune, land plots have been surveyed but not yet registered.file for compensationRegarding land, there are 17 households/17 plots. In Yen Thang commune, for land plots that have been surveyed and mapped but have not yet had compensation and land support records established: In Ban Pung, there are 48 plots of land that have been surveyed and mapped, but due to overlapping on forestry land plots that have been granted certificates to other households. In Ban Canh, there are 02 households that are free migrants according to their wishes and are among the 9 households that were relocated in the first phase but have not yet received compensation for residential land for the remaining area, while the other 7 households have been compensated. In Ban Luom, there are 02 plots of land that have been surveyed and mapped but due to overlapping on forestry land plots that have been granted certificates to other households...

In Tam Quang commune, there are currently 44 households/86 plots that have held public meetings to disclose the area and verify the origin of the land, but have not yet prepared compensation records. Among them, 4 households whose residential land has been measured on the cadastral map at the construction site of Tam Huong village wish to use the land for residence and not receive compensation, but in fact, the residential land that these 4 households are currently using is on the certificate issued to Khe Bo hydropower plant.

The support plan for the 2018 flood discharge impact has not been completely resolved for 18 households in Khe Bo village who complained according to the direction of the Provincial People's Committee in Official Dispatch No. 611/UBND-BTD dated July 17, 2020 and the remaining 49 households without a complaint. The investor committed to repairing the flooded residential road after the water accumulation at Khe Moi in Tam Huong village by December 30, 2018, but has not yet been implemented.

Khe Bo Hydropower Plant. Photo courtesy

In Tam Dinh commune, specifically Dinh Tien village, land plots have been surveyed but land compensation records have not been established: 59 land plots have been surveyed but due to overlap with forestry and agricultural land plots, compensation records have not been established. In Dinh Thang village, land plots have been surveyed but land compensation records have not been established: 14 land plots have been surveyed but due to overlap with forestry and agricultural land plots, compensation records have not been established.

Dinh Huong village, land plots have been surveyed but land compensation records have not been established: 46 land plots have been surveyed but due to overlap with forestry and agricultural land plots, compensation records have not been established. Dinh Phong village, land plots have been surveyed but land compensation records have not been established: 37 land plots have been surveyed but due to overlap with forestry and agricultural land plots, compensation records have not been established...

In Xa Luong commune, 52 plots of land have been surveyed but have not yet been recorded for compensation. Four households affected by the 2018 flood have been supported with 50% of the cost, the remaining amount has not been paid because the land users have not yet relocated.

Representatives of Tam Quang commune leaders expressed their opinions. Photo: NL

In addition, there are some other problems: The Khe Bo hydropower reservoir area at the following locations: both sides of the Ban Lau suspension bridge, the Benh Vien hamlet area, Khe Chi hamlet, Thach Giam town; Tam Thai Market area in Lung hamlet, Tam Thai commune; The residential area in Canh Tang hamlet, Yen Thang commune has been contracted by VNPD with Power Construction Design Consulting Company 1 to install dense markers, make adjustments and supplements in the field, but has not yet provided land records approved by competent authorities to carry out the work of preparing land compensation records for the people. The content was committed since 2018, but has not been implemented yet.

Due to some of the resettlement areas of the project having deviations from the original planning documents, in order to complete the related legal procedures to serve the land management work in the area, the District People's Committee has requested the investor to make adjustments in accordance with the reality to serve the work of land allocation and granting of certificates to people subject to resettlement in the following villages: Dinh Huong, Dinh Tien, Dinh Thang, Dinh Phong, Tam Dinh commune; Pung village, Yen Thang commune; Canh Trap village, Tam Thai commune and Mac village, Thach Giam commune. The content was committed since 2018, but has not been implemented yet.

For partially affected households in the communes: Tam Thai, Thach Giam town, Xa Luong and Yen Thang commune. Pursuant to Point d, Clause 8, Article 1 of Decision No. 4027/QD-UBND.XDCN dated August 28, 2009 of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee on approving the Decision on compensation, support and resettlement of Khe Bo hydropower project, the responsibility belongs to the Investor, Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Company. The content was committed since 2018, but has not been implemented yet...

There must be a roadmap and a solution to resolve the issue.

At the meeting, representatives of communes and towns made many recommendations, affirming that the investor lacked responsibility in resolving existing problems related to the project.compensation - GPMBfor the people and the investment and construction work to serve resettlement. This leads to people losing faith, frustration, petitions, complaints, and bypassing authorities, causing bad public opinion. Representatives of the communes requested the District Party Committee and the District People's Committee to request Khe Bo Hydropower Plant to commit to a roadmap and time to completely resolve the existing problems and difficulties.

Representative of Xa Luong commune leader speaking. Photo: Nhat Lan

Representatives of leaders and departments of Tuong Duong district had many opinions. Mr. Kha Van Ot - Vice Chairman of the District People's Council said that basically all types of documents and procedures had been appraised and approved by Khe Bo Hydropower Plant, but this unit did not proactively source capital to arrange resettlement work and pay for people. Therefore, the investor must be responsible for this content. Besides, Mr. Kha Van Ot also requested Khe Bo Hydropower Plant to clarify the issue of the lake bed contour, to have a basis for compiling compensation documents and issuing Land Use Rights Certificates to households.

According to Mr. Phan Duc Son - Chairman of the District People's Committee, there are still 7 major contents and 45 existing problems in the 6 communes related to Khe Bo Hydropower Plant. However, in the past time, the investor has been irresponsible in resolving the problems. As the head of the district government directly in charge of receiving people, Mr. Phan Duc Son affirmed that after the compensation and site clearance work was transferred to the investor, the handling of the backlog is not the responsibility of the District People's Committee. Therefore, if people have petitions or complaints, they will forward the petitions or guide people directly to the investor; at the same time, the functional department will also be assigned to guide people to file a petition to the court if there is a request. Affirming this, Mr. Phan Duc Son requested that the investor must uphold the sense of responsibility so that the legitimate rights of the people are resolved completely.

Representative of the investor, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Company, Mr. Phan The Chuyen clearly recognized the shortcomings. However, due to the large amount of work, there are problems that can be solved immediately, but there are problems that require time to review and ask for opinions from superiors. Therefore, based on the opinions of the members attending the meeting, Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Company will try to solve each part of the work, with the completion time from the end of 2020 to the end of 2021.

Deputy General Director of Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Company, Mr. Phan The Chuyen spoke at the meeting. Photo: Nhat Lan

Concluding the working session, according to Secretary of Tuong Duong District Party Committee - Mr. Nguyen Van Hai, Tuong Duong district is one of the localities actively implementing the Party and State's policies and guidelines on hydropower development, the people have high consensus, which has helped hydropower plants to be completed and put into operation on schedule, including Khe Bo hydropower plant.

However, Khe Bo hydropower plant has left behind a huge problem, affecting the legitimate rights of the people. Specifically, there are households that gave up their land to implement the project but have not yet received compensation, affecting their lives, causing negative impacts on people when floods come, people have been living in fear, their lives are precarious.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hai - Secretary of Tuong Duong District Party Committee concluded the working session. Photo: Nhat Lan

Regarding the cause, the Secretary of the Tuong Duong District Party Committee pointed out that the investor was irresponsible and deliberately did not follow the procedures and regulations of the state; the coordination between the investor and the authorities at all levels was not good; some officials of the investor disregarded the interests of the people; the investor deliberately gave inappropriate reasons such as capital difficulties to delay payment....

It is required that for locations that have been inventoried, counted, and extracted, the investor must approve the plan to make final payments, and must complete the implementation by December 31, 2020. Overlapping land locations and locations with unclear land origins need to continue to complete the legality to compensate the people. Any locations where assets on land or land cannot be compensated must be completely answered. For newly arising issues, it is recommended to review, specifically evaluate, and compare compensation regulations to complete and pay before December 31, 2020.

Regarding 18 households of Khe Bo (Tam Quang), households affected by the storm in 2018 in Xa Luong need special treatment. If land compensation is not given, land must be provided. People cannot be allowed to suffer from floods, prolonged lawsuits, or live in a state of anxiety and fear as they are now.

Investors need to continue to coordinate with district-level departments to carry out compensation work for the right subjects, regimes, and unit prices. Implement in accordance with legal regulations, ensuring that whoever makes a mistake will be held responsible. People's Committees of communes and heads of government agencies direct the clarification of land origin, on that basis, issue certificates to people. By the deadline of June 2021, it is necessary to complete and adjust the planning of resettlement areas and households with land changes to complete the dossier and issue Land Use Rights Certificates to people. For cases where land has been recovered but has not been paid, it is necessary to consider compensation options based on bank interest rates...

The Secretary of the Tuong Duong District Party Committee also directed the District People's Committee to complete the working session report and send it to the Provincial People's Committee and the Director of the Provincial Police to report the situation; the District Party Committee Office also completed the report to send to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee. In the reports, along with clarifying the current situation, it is requested that the Provincial People's Committee consider and submit a document to the Government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Vietnam Electricity Group to stop the water storage of Khe Bo Hydropower Plant to resolve the existing problems and difficulties. At the same time, it is requested that the investor submit a written response to the contents concluded by the Standing Committee of the Tuong Duong District Party Committee, in which it must clearly state the roadmap and time to resolve the existing problems and difficulties.