The Standing Committee of the National Assembly gives comments on the revised Land Law.

At the 21st session of the National Assembly Standing Committee held on the afternoon of September 12, a number of important issues and differing opinions of the draft Land Law (amended) were discussed and commented on by the National Assembly Standing Committee.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang presented a report on receiving comments on the draft law. (Photo: Phuong Hoa/VNA)

The National Assembly Standing Committee highly appreciated the process of receiving and revising the draft Law by the drafting agency and said that the draft Law was elaborately, carefully, responsibly built with a strict process.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu affirmed that the Draft has made great progress compared to previous submissions, is more elaborate, and goes in the direction of solving practical problems.

In response to the opinions of the people and National Assembly deputies on the feasibility of the regulation on land recovery due to violations in cases of improper land use, the National Assembly Standing Committee has revised Point a, Clause 1, Article 67 in the direction that the State will recover land in cases of improper land use that have been allocated, leased, or recognized by the State and have been administratively sanctioned for improper land use but continue to violate.

Regarding the proposal to organize a public dialogue with the people about the compensation and resettlement support plan before making a decision on enforcement, the National Assembly Standing Committee has added a provision to Point b, Clause 4, Article 74 of the draft Law. The enforcement committee will mobilize, persuade, and dialogue with individuals and organizations subject to enforcement. If the individuals and organizations subject to enforcement comply, the enforcement committee will draw up a record of compliance. The handover of land will be carried out no later than 30 days from the date of making the record.

Land recovery - the hottest issue, of great concern to voters and the National Assembly, has been thoroughly discussed by the National Assembly Standing Committee. Regarding the regulation on the State's land recovery for the purpose of economic and social development, the National Assembly Standing Committee believes that in order to implement the Socio-Economic Development Strategy, land use planning and plans at all levels have projected land funds for various purposes, including land funds for economic and social development projects. Economic and social development projects of national and public interest must have land recovered by the State to ensure implementation.

To limit arbitrary land acquisition, Article 63 of the draft Law has specifically stipulated a number of projects and works subject to land acquisition by the State for socio-economic development; supplemented with a provision that land acquisition must be approved by the Provincial People's Council for projects and works to build new urban areas, new rural residential areas, urban embellishment, rural residential areas, industrial clusters, large-scale mineral exploitation, and concentrated agricultural, forestry, aquatic and seafood processing zones.

However, Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee Phan Trung Ly said that it is necessary to review the exact cases of land recovery for use in national and public interests and land recovery for economic and social development projects and works because many people will think that land recovery for socio-economic development can also coincide with national and public interests, and this ambiguity will lead to difficulties in implementation.

According to Mr. Phan Trung Ly, it is necessary to clarify the purpose and authority of land recovery stipulated in Articles 62 and 63. This is also the viewpoint of National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, Vice Chairmen Huynh Ngoc Son, Uong Chu Luu and Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Committee on Social Affairs Truong Thi Mai.

Ms. Truong Thi Mai acknowledged that Article 62 essentially regulates the purpose, Article 63 regulates the authority, the project should study the integration of the two articles into one. Agreeing with the combination of Articles 62 and 63, Vice Chairman Huynh Ngoc Son said that the biggest problem of the draft Law is in the above two articles, cases of land recovery for socio-economic development purposes will also include national and public interests, it is difficult to clearly regulate this issue.

According to National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, it is necessary to clarify Articles 62 and 63, to complete the issue of land recovery for use in national interests, public interests, national defense and security, and to implement economic and social development projects, and these regulations must be consistent with the amendments in the Draft Amendment to the 1992 Constitution. Along with that, it is necessary to clearly stipulate which level has the authority to decide on this land recovery.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung suggested that for projects that the State does not take over, and that people and businesses negotiate on their own, the order and procedures must also be clearly specified in the draft Law.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee Phung Quoc Hien suggested that land recovery limits should be set at each level and that local authorities should be limited to avoid widespread recovery.

Regarding the regulation of land prices for calculating compensation when the State reclaims land, the National Assembly Standing Committee believes that the increase in land prices after changing the purpose is decided by the State and invested in infrastructure. This increased value must belong to the State and be regulated by the State.

Agreeing with the above regulation, Mr. Phung Quoc Hien said that it is necessary to take into account the regulation factor for the people, after deducting the investment value, on the basis of the difference in land prices increased thanks to infrastructure investment, the State should calculate a certain ratio to regulate for the people, which is more satisfactory than collecting all for the budget. Projects invested by enterprises also need to be regulated and divided in the spirit of creating conditions for enterprises, calculating the benefits for all three parties: State-people-enterprises. Clarifying how much support based on the difference will satisfy the people more and also solve the problems when handling land disputes, Mr. Phung Quoc Hien emphasized.

Opinions in the National Assembly Standing Committee also proposed strict regulations on land under planning and land that has been announced for sale; reviewing the three organizations of the Land Use Rights Registration Office, the Land Development Fund and the Land Fund Development Organization because their functions and tasks are still overlapping. From the perspective of many industrial parks that promise to create jobs for people whose land is recovered right in the industrial park after land recovery and factory construction, but then people still have no jobs and are eliminated for many different reasons, Ms. Truong Thi Mai proposed that the Law have sanctions to further affirm the responsibility of public service agencies in the process of land recovery and to resolve issues of support for people.

The Land Law Project (amended) was submitted to the 13th National Assembly for first comments at the 4th session, revised, consulted with public opinion and completed one more step for National Assembly deputies to comment for the second time at the 5th session held last June.

The issue of land recovery and some important contents of the draft Land Law (amended) will continue to be discussed at the specialized National Assembly Conference at the end of September before being submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at the 6th session of the 13th National Assembly./.

According to VNA - LT