Stuck in administrative boundaries, 19 households in Nghe An have been waiting for red books for many years

Sadness of De hamlet

Until now, Mr. Nguyen Trong Tai (51 years old, De hamlet, Yen Hop commune, Quy Hop), still has not forgotten the hardship of having to run around and borrow money from one house to another. That was Mr. Tai's situation 3 years ago. At that time, his son had just graduated from high school and intended to go abroad to work. However, to go abroad, his family needed to pay a large sum of money.

"At that time, I went to the bank to ask for a loan but was not accepted because I did not have a red book," Mr. Tai said.

From a shack set up on the deserted National Highway 48 to repair motorbikes for people searching for red stones, Mr. Tai now has a spacious house. Photo: Tien Hung

Mr. Tai was born in Quy Hop town. In the early 90s, he came here alone to start a business. At that time, people from all over the country flocked to Chau Binh with the dream of changing their lives thanks to red stone. Meanwhile, Mr. Tai had just finished a motorbike repair class. So he decided to go to the wild mountains on Highway 48, the border between Chau Binh commune (Quy Chau district) and Yen Hop commune (Quy Hop district) to build a motorbike repair shop. Until now, after more than 30 years, Mr. Tai still repairs motorbikes. The only thing is that from a makeshift shack, he now has a large piece of land on the road and a quite spacious house.

At the same time Mr. Tai came here, many other households from all over the country also moved to this area to set up tents to do business and live. Some sold tea, others opened beer stalls... All of them served the red stone seekers. The small hamlet was born from there. Initially, the hamlet had 17 households, but now there are 2 cases where children have moved out to live separately, bringing the total number of households in this hamlet to 19. From a hamlet with each person from a different hometown, the hamlet's economic life is now very prosperous. There are cases where people are famously rich in the whole region, thanks to trading in precious stones. The only thing is, these 19 households have not been granted land use right certificates, even though they have submitted applications for decades.

19 households live on both sides of National Highway 48, a stretch of about 150m. This is the gateway to Quy Chau district. Photo: Tien Hung

The local authorities explained that the reason these 19 households were not granted land use right certificates was related to administrative boundaries. Specifically, these 19 households have registered residence in De hamlet, Yen Hop commune, Quy Hop district. But according to map 364, they are in Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau district.

According to the reporter's records, these 19 households live concentrated on both sides of National Highway 48, on a road only about 150m long. This area has an area of ​​only 1.9 hectares. They live next to households of Quynh 2 village (Chau Binh commune). This is also the gateway to Quy Chau district.

A house in this hamlet. Among the 19 households, many families have a well-off life thanks to the gemstone trade. Photo: Tien Hung

2 localities have not yet unified

Talking to Nghe An Newspaper reporter, Mr. Nguyen Cong Giap - Secretary of Yen Hop Commune Party Committee said that in the past, this area belonged to Yen Hop Commune. However, when measuring according to map 364, this area was assigned to Quy Chau district. "The people belong to Yen Hop Commune, the land previously belonged to Yen Hop Commune, so it is best to adjust the boundary and transfer it to us," Mr. Giap said. Meanwhile, Quy Chau District leaders said that this area has always been Quy Chau's land.

Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang - Head of the Department of Internal Affairs of Quy Hop district said that on November 28, 2016, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district held a consultation conference with the People's Committee of Quy Chau district to resolve the administrative boundary problem in this area. The consultation between the two districts agreed on the solution to readjust the administrative boundary line between the two communes according to the current situation of 19 households in De hamlet, Yen Hop commune, who are living on the land of Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau district with an area of ​​about 1.9 hectares, which will be transferred to Yen Hop commune, Quy Hop district for management. The consultation minutes signed by the Chairmen of the People's Committees of the two districts were submitted to the Department of Internal Affairs according to regulations.

By 2021, the consulting unit had revised the map according to Decision 513/QDTTg and placed markers in the field. However, when the consulting unit submitted the documents and maps to Quy Chau district for confirmation of completion, the leaders of Quy Chau district did not sign, and at the same time suggested not to adjust the administrative boundary map as discussed in the consultation meeting, but to keep it as version 364.

On December 31, 2021, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district held a consultation meeting with Quy Hop district to discuss and resolve the above-mentioned boundary problem. This time, Quy Hop district continued to request the province to adjust the administrative boundary line as agreed upon at the consultation meeting in 2016. Meanwhile, Quy Chau district continued to request the province not to adjust the boundary line but to keep it as the old 364 map.

Due to the failure to find a common voice, at the request of the Department of Home Affairs, on January 6, 2022, Quy Chau district and Quy Hop district continued to organize a consultation conference to unify administrative boundaries. After the two districts discussed but still could not agree on a plan, the representative of the Department of Home Affairs assigned Quy Chau district to survey the opinions of households and submit it to the Department of Home Affairs for consideration. The survey results of Quy Chau district showed that there were 14 households wishing to transfer their household registration to Chau Binh commune for management.

Ms. Doan Thi Nguyet - Deputy Head of the Department of Home Affairs of Quy Chau district said that based on the wishes of the people, on February 15, 2022, Quy Chau district sent a document to the Department of Home Affairs, requesting to consider keeping the administrative boundaries according to map 364, transferring households to Chau Binh commune for management, and canceling the consultation minutes between Quy Chau and Quy Hop districts on November 28, 2016. However, more than 7 months have passed, and the Department of Home Affairs has yet to respond.

However, Quy Hop district said that the locality had directly surveyed the wishes of the people. "Through the survey, the people said that it was okay to go to any district. As long as they were granted land use right certificates. It does not have to be Quy Chau district," said the Head of the Department of Internal Affairs of Quy Hop district, adding that the locality had instructed 19 households to prepare documents according to regulations and submit them to the competent authorities of Quy Chau district to grant land use right certificates according to regulations. In addition, Quy Hop district also sent a document to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment requesting that this Department urge Quy Chau district to grant land use right certificates to 19 households. However, for unknown reasons, Quy Chau district still did not grant them.

Regarding this, Quy Chau district said that according to the new Law on Residence, people must register for temporary residence to be granted land use right certificates. Meanwhile, these 19 households have registered residence in Yen Hop commune, so Quy Chau cannot issue certificates.

Residents talk with Nghe An Newspaper reporters. Photo: TH

Responding to a question from a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper about the fact that in 2016, the leaders of the two districts signed a consultation agreement, agreeing to adjust the boundaries of this area to be managed by Quy Hop district, but until now they have not agreed, a leader of Quy Chau district said that according to the law, this must be decided by the District People's Council and the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee, so that consultation agreement must be canceled. Recently, when the consulting unit brought the map to the district leaders for confirmation, he presented it to the People's Council and the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee for opinions, but no one agreed to cut this 1.9 hectares of land to Quy Hop district. “There are also some other areas of encroachment and encroachment in the area. If we continue to cut off the land like this, it will set a bad precedent. Not to mention, the area where 19 households live is the gateway to the entire Quy Chau district, and in that area, there are not only 19 Quy Hop households, but also a number of Quy Chau households. If the land is cut off for Quy Hop, what will the Quy Chau households do?” he said.

Meanwhile, a leader of Quy Hop district said that the district hopes that Quy Chau will soon transfer 1.9 hectares of land in this area to Quy Hop, "so that those 19 households can live in the same village and neighborhood"./.