Complaint in Block 3, Kim Son Town (Que Phong): Unreasonable and lacking in emotion

(Baonghean) - Sending a petition to Nghe An Newspaper, Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai said that his family's residential land was encroached upon by a neighboring household; in addition, the issuance of the Land Use Rights Certificate to his family by the People's Committee of Que Phong district was not accurate.

Is it to "protect" the staff?

Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai wrote in his application that in 1978, when he went to Que Phong district to work at Geological Group No. 3, he organized the reclamation of the land currently located at K3, Kim Son town.

In 2001, his residential land was inspected and measured by cadastral officers at all levels and included in the technical records; it was recognized by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in the land records of Que Phong district with land plot number 43, map sheet number 3, reference number 170489-3b, block 3, Kim Son Town - Que Phong on July 20, 2001.

The land dispute area between Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai's family and Mr. Luong Van Khue's family is at the location of the unfinished fence.

In 2005, Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai registered land use rights and divided land for his 3 children. Although he had not yet been granted a land use right certificate, the related documents were recognized by the Kim Son Town government. Also in 2005, the State cleared the land to expand National Highway 48, Mr. Ai's family was subject to land reclamation and strictly complied.

After more than 10 years of applying for a land use right certificate, in June 2016, he continued this work and paid the second fee and registration fee of over 22.1 million VND to have the Que Phong District People's Committee issue a land use right certificate. However, Mr. Ai later realized that some contents on the land use right certificate were not accurate with the land he had been managing and using. Therefore, from August 15, 2015, he sent his opinion to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the District Land Use Right Registration Office.

But his petition was not considered and resolved by these departments. Meanwhile, in January 2016, a land dispute arose between Mr. Ai's family and Mr. Luong Van Khue's family. Khue's family built a fence that overlapped the land; and cut down trees, breaking the roof tiles. Although Mr. Ai's family tried to stop them, Mr. Khue's family continued to encroach. The Kim Son Town government came down to resolve the matter, acknowledging that Mr. Khue's encroachment was correct, and not only that, they also measured the land that he had encroached on by an additional 0.7m.

Mr. Ai requested the competent authorities to review the records over the periods to re-determine. However, the answer received was: The town People's Committee does not keep old records (?). Regarding this incident, Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai raised the question that since receiving the land use right certificate until now, it has been more than a year since he made a request but it has not been considered and resolved satisfactorily; meanwhile, there are signs that Mr. Luong Ngoc Khue's actions have been covered up. Is it because Mr. Khue is a district official?

Working with reporters, in addition to providing relevant land documents, Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai said: “I hope the matter will be resolved peacefully to preserve the neighborly relationship; I have agreed to the mediation of the district government. However, Mr. Khue's family continues to take advantage of the situation, repeatedly committing acts of encroachment. He is a cadre, and later bought land to live here but has behaved inappropriately; while the district and town agencies have not resolved the matter in a reasonable manner, I had to send a petition to the provincial agencies and Nghe An Newspaper…”.

Need to base on profile!

To clarify the land complaint of Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai, we have requested the People's Committee of Kim Son Town to work with those directly involved in land matters. According to Mr. Phan Van Bac - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Kim Son Town, when the land dispute between the two families of Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai and Mr. Luong Van Khue occurred, the town conducted mediation, re-measured the land of the two families and handled the petition according to its authority. Currently, the handling is under the authority of the district level.

Because in the land records provided by Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai, there are many differences between the technical records of the land plot in 2001, 2005 and the land use right certificate in 2015 right at the border with Mr. Luong Van Khue's household (in terms of the length of the border road, the bends...), so we asked the land officer of Kim Son town to clarify. Initially, according to Mr. Le Hong Kien - land officer, there was basically no difference; and explained that there had been a land exchange between the two families. However, when asked to provide legal grounds for the "land exchange", the People's Committee of Kim Son town did not have any.

It was only when he opened the technical records of the two plots of land of the families of Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai and Mr. Luong Van Khue that the town kept for comparison that Mr. Le Hong Kien recognized that the land use right certificate issued in 2015 to Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai's household was distorted. Mr. Le Hong Kien explained: "I came from Nam Giai commune (Que Phong) to work as a land officer of the town in 2015. At that time, the issuance of the land use right certificate to Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai had been carried out.

In fact, in granting land use right certificates, town officials only guide citizens to complete the procedures and conduct the survey. As for technical matters and measurements, they are under the authority of the Land Use Right Registration Office. When Mr. Ai submitted his application, I checked and found that the technical documents were inaccurate and discussed this with the town leaders…”.

Technical diagram of Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai's land plot in 2001.

Talking with the representative of Que Phong District People's Committee, it is known that the Provincial People's Committee has issued an Official Dispatch directing the district to handle the content of Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai's complaint. On November 10, 2016, Que Phong District People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 1172/UBND-VP assigning the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to inspect, thereby advising on responding to citizens. According to Mr. Le Van Giap - Chairman of the District People's Committee, to handle this content, the district has directed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to inspect and review land records of different periods to use as a basis for consideration.

But Mr. Giap also stated that land area may vary due to different measurement methods in different periods; however, the points of contact and boundaries shown on the technical documents remain unchanged. And this is the key point to determine right and wrong. Mr. Le Van Giap said: “In fact, we have a direction to resolve the matter to ensure that it is reasonable. I also told my staff (Mr. Luong Van Khue - PV), as a staff, the first thing is to maintain the relationship with the people. My staff has also realized this…”.

Through grasping the relevant information, it can be seen that Mr. Le Van Giap's approach to handling the matter is reasonable. In fact, through studying the 2001 land records provided by Mr. Ai and the People's Committee of Kim Son town, it is not too difficult to see that the technical drawing of the land plot in the Land Use Rights Certificate for Mr. Tran Ngoc Ai's household is not accurate. Regarding the actual status of the wall that Mr. Luong Ngoc Khue is building unfinished, it is also not the same as the border line between the two families shown in the 2001 technical records.

This is something that the officers of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Que Phong district need to pay attention to when checking to have an accurate answer to the citizen's complaint. After all, the incident is not serious, the consequences are not serious. The key problem is that the way Mr. Luong Van Khue's family resolved the conflict was unreasonable and lacked affection, leading to the citizen's petition. As a district-level department head, Mr. Luong Van Khue personally needs to learn a lesson for himself./.

Nhat Lan