Village chief sells land without permission: Violations are rampant

(Baonghean) - Before 2013, not only village 21 but also 16 other villages in Quynh Vinh commune (Hoang Mai town, Nghe An) illegally transferred agricultural land.

» Bypassing the commune, the village chief sold agricultural land

After Hoang Mai Town was established, local leaders directed inspections. Although the inspection conclusions were issued in 2014, the violations have not been completely resolved. Therefore, Quynh Vinh is still a “hot spot” regarding land…

17/21 villages sell agricultural land

In Quynh Vinh commune, many people are familiar with the sale of agricultural land by village chiefs. According to the people, a total of 17/21 villages sold agricultural land. In 2014, the People's Committee of Hoang Mai town organized an inspection, but could not thoroughly handle the violations... Speaking out what he heard from the people's reflection, Mr. Vu Le Hung - Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Vinh commune also confirmed these contents.

But he said that the situation of village officials selling land from 2005 to 2013 was all for the purpose of getting money to build village infrastructure projects such as cultural houses and rural roads. Mr. Hung also informed that on July 17, 2014, the People's Committee of Hoang Mai town directed the establishment of an inspection team on land management and use in Quynh Vinh commune. On November 26, 2014, the inspection team issued Conclusion No. 928, pointing out a series of violations in this commune.

Party cell secretary of village 21, Mr. Nguyen Duc Tuy (left cover) and villagers of village 21 discussed the incident with reporters of Nghe An Newspaper. Photo: LB

According to the conclusion, from January 1, 2004 to June 1, 2013, 17 villages used wasteland, agricultural land, unused land, and remaining land after conversion to sell for money to build cultural houses or exchange materials to build cultural houses for 63 households and individuals with 65 lots, area 18,868m2.

Of which, 7 lots with an area of ​​1,928.2m2 were sold by the village for agricultural production; 58 lots with an area of ​​16,940m2 were sold by the village for residential purposes. The total amount of money that the villages sold the land for was more than 4.172 billion VND. The villages compensated the people for the land according to Decree 64/CP with 704.4 million VND; used more than 3.468 billion VND to build cultural houses, intra-village roads, bridges, and purchase equipment for the cultural houses.

Based on the inspection contents, in Conclusion No. 928, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoang Mai Town directed the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Vinh Commune to issue a decision to recover the area of ​​1,928.2m2 that the villages had sold to 7 families for agricultural production purposes and return it to the State for management; at the same time, directed the village heads of villages 3 and 5 to return 117 million VND to 7 households that had purchased land for agricultural production purposes.

For the remaining 58 plots of land of 57 households and individuals, the current status is required to be maintained, each case is reviewed and examined in detail, and a file is prepared to be submitted to the competent authority for handling in accordance with the law. The time limit for implementing the contents according to the inspection conclusion is 1 year. If the time limit is exceeded, the Town Inspectorate will advise the Chairman of the Town People's Committee to transfer the entire file to the Town Police Investigation Agency for handling in accordance with the law.

Also in Conclusion 928, Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoang Mai Town directed Quynh Vinh Commune to organize a meeting to review the collective responsibility of the People's Committee of the Commune and take disciplinary action against Mr. Le Van Thanh - Chairman of the People's Committee of the Commune for the 2005-2010 term; Mr. Le Van Ky - Chairman of the People's Committee of the Commune for the 2010-2017 term; Ms. Bui Thi Huong, land officer and hamlet chief of 17 hamlets.

lenient mistake

Mr. Vu Le Hung - Chairman of Quynh Vinh Commune People's Committee said that after the inspection conclusion, the Party Executive Committee of the commune met and issued a disciplinary warning to the Party Secretary and Deputy Party Secretary of the commune; the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune was dismissed from his position; at the same time, the village chiefs of 17 villages were disciplined with a warning.

Agricultural plots in the land of Tau Voi have been filled with soil and planted with trees by the transferee. Photo: LB

Regarding the handling of the situation of illegal land sales, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Vinh commune informed: Through review and counting, 58 cases of illegal land sales were divided and transferred into 73 cases. In addition, there were 18 cases arising after the inspection conclusion of the People's Committee of Hoang Mai town with an area of ​​4,265.3m2, the amount of 637 million VND.

Of these, 28 cases have built level 4 houses and multi-storey houses; 13 cases have filled the ground, leveled the ground, built surrounding walls; 50 cases have not been built and are currently engaged in agricultural production. Mr. Vu Le Hung also said that the total amount of money that the villages have spent from selling land is more than 5.013 billion VND. Of which, land compensation for households with agricultural land that the village agreed to sell is more than 1.447 billion VND; building cultural houses costs more than 2.944 billion VND; building traffic works costs more than 621 million VND; the amount of money that has not been spent in the villages is more than 30.3 million VND.

Quynh Vinh Commune People's Committee has proposed to Hoang Mai Town People's Committee that for 58 cases (divided into 65 lots), they should be recorded as revenue and expenditure because the above amount was spent on construction of works serving the interests of the community. 18 cases arose after the inspection conclusion, because through the inspection, the funds collected by the villages were also used for the purpose of building infrastructure for the community, so it is proposed to apply the same.

However, it is necessary to base on the land price list at the time the villages carry out the transfer, consider the location of each plot of land to calculate the cost that the transferee must pay in addition to the land use fee up to the present time.

In 2016, the People's Committee of Quynh Vinh commune prepared 23 sets of documents of 23 families and individuals to send to the Town Land Use Registration Office to request the issuance of Land Use Right Certificates for cases of illegal land sales. And as Mr. Vu Le Hung explained, the issue of land handling for those who have received land transfers is the most important issue to be resolved, otherwise, the Quynh Vinh commune area will continue to be complicated.

However, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong - Director of the Office of Land Use Registration of Hoang Mai Town, the 23 sets of documents sent by Quynh Vinh Commune were all invalid, not correct and complete with documents according to regulations and general implementation procedures.

The dossier does not have documents related to the sale of land without authority; has not consulted the residential area for each specific case; the origin, time, current status of land use, planning status of each plot of land; the implementation of financial obligations of households and individuals for the plot of land for which a Land Use Right Certificate is requested.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong also affirmed that, for the issuance of land use right certificates for cases of land allocation without proper authority in the period of 2004 - 2014, it is necessary to base on Decree No. 43/ND-CP, Decree No. 45/ND-CP in 2014 and Decree No. 01/ND-CP in 2017 providing detailed guidance on the implementation of the 2013 Land Law of the Government. Accordingly, it is necessary to clarify each case of land sale without proper authority, and to thoroughly handle each officer who commits violations.

However, Quynh Vinh commune has not clarified and resolved the responsibility of those who allocated land without proper authority according to the provisions of law, so there are not enough conditions to consider and resolve. Ms. Huong said: "The allocation of land without proper authority in Quynh Vinh commune is carried out by the hamlet level. There are no legal regulations on this issue, so the handling is very difficult and complicated."

Upon investigation, it was found that the situation in Quynh Vinh was becoming increasingly complicated. Recently, the Hoang Mai Town Party Committee has issued many documents directing the commune to strictly implement Inspection Conclusion No. 928.

(To be continued)

Nhat Lan - Pham Bang