Due to land acquisition issues, construction on National Highway 7 through Dien Chau is being interrupted.
Tien Dong•July 25, 2024 11:19
Despite the deadline for handing over the land to the investor for construction having passed, dozens of households in Dien Chau district, where National Highway 7 passes through, have still refused to hand over the land.
53 plots of land have not yet been handed over.
The project to upgrade and renovate National Highway 7, section Km0 - Km36, and address landslides caused by storms and floods in the Khe Thoi - Nam Can section, Nghe An province, is a project included in the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2021-2025, approved by the Ministry of Transport in Decision No. 333/QD-BGTVT dated March 18, 2022. The project has a total investment of VND 1,300.270 billion, with a total length of 27.5 km, passing through Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, and Do Luong districts.
The section passing through Dien Chau district, from kilometer marker 0+00 to kilometer marker 9+180, has a total length of 9.18 km (18.36 km including both sides of the route), traversing Dien Chau town and the communes of Dien Thanh, Dien Phuc, Dien Cat, and Minh Chau. Specifically, land acquisition is not required in Dien Chau town because the land demarcation area does not affect the land plots of households and individuals.
A household in Minh Chau commune (Dien Chau district) is dismantling a structure to hand it over to the construction unit. Photo: Tien Dong.
According to Report No. 278/BC-UBND dated July 18, 2024, from the People's Committee of Dien Chau District, the total number of land parcels affected by the project throughout the district is 862. Of these, 355 are residential and garden land, 397 are agricultural land, and 110 are other types of land..A total of 9 residential land plots were confiscated and required to be allocated for resettlement, mainly in Dien Phuc commune.
To date, the entire Dien Chau district has handed over approximately 16.7km/18.36km (90.9%) of the discontinuous sections from Km0+00 to Km9+180 (left and right sides of the route). Of this, the entire section passing through agricultural land has been handed over, encompassing all 397 plots, and 110 plots of other land.
As of July 18, 2024, Dien Chau district had handed over 302 plots of garden and residential land, with 53 plots remaining to be handed over. The photo shows the demolition of structures being carried out in Minh Chau commune. Photo: Tien Dong
There is still 1.66 km of residential land that remains unclaimed (including both the left and right sides of the route), with 53 plots of land yet to be handed over.
Specifically, in Dien Thanh commune, 15 out of 66 plots of land remain unhanded over. Of these, 13 plots are for which households are requesting compensation for areas outside the boundaries of their land use right certificates, but there is no basis for resolving these requests.
In Dien Phuc commune, 4 out of 104 land plots remain unhanded over. This includes one household (located at the foundation of the railway overpass) that does not yet have a land use right certificate; the local authorities are currently reviewing the land's origin and consolidating the necessary documents for implementation. Another household has built a kiosk on land within the traffic safety corridor and has not received compensation or property support but refuses to relocate. Furthermore, two households have land use right certificates for which the affected area is garden land (not residential land), therefore they are only entitled to compensation equivalent to the value of agricultural land, leading to disagreements between the households.
Construction of the railway overpass in Dien Phuc commune is facing difficulties due to land acquisition issues. Photo: Tien Dong
Due to land acquisition issues, one of the key components of this project, the railway overpass section passing through Dien Phuc commune, has yet to be completed. According to the design, this overpass has 2 lanes and 8 spans; however, some of the bridge abutments on the western side of the railway have not yet been constructed.
In Minh Chau commune, 14 out of 77 land plots have not yet been handed over. The reason is that households are requesting compensation for land area outside the land use right certificate, specifically for land allocated illegally within the traffic safety corridor but for which they have not yet been issued a land use right certificate.
Most notably, in Dien Cat commune, 20 out of 108 land plots have yet to be handed over. Of these, 17 households have not agreed on the land area, and 3 households have not agreed due to compensation claims for land affected by the National Highway 7 project dating back to 2011, with no basis for resolution.
An aerial view of a section of National Highway 7 passing through Dien Chau district where land clearance is still incomplete. Photo: Thanh Cuong.
Focus on dissemination and explanation.
Upon investigating this issue, we learned that the deadline for land handover has been adjusted several times. Recently, in Conclusion Notice No. 454/TB-UBND dated June 18, 2024, issued by the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Le Hong Vinh, it was clearly stated that Dien Chau district must complete the land handover for the remaining problematic sections before June 28, 2024. Priority should be given to handing over the land for Mr. Nguyen Van Duyen's household (at the location of the railway overpass bridge foundation), as this is a critical path of the project, and must be completed no later than November 2024, according to the schedule extended by the Ministry of Transport.
The Conclusion Notice also stated that Dien Chau district needs to organize efforts to protect the construction of sections where compensation and land clearance procedures have been ensured, but where households are obstructing or resisting the work in the sections passing through Dien Thanh, Dien Phuc, and Minh Chau communes; store images of the current status of households still facing difficulties, and extract and measure records for comparison with documents, completing the process definitively by June 2024.
The incomplete land clearance has caused a disruption to National Highway 7 passing through Dien Chau district, affecting traffic flow. Photo: Tien Dong
However, as of now, the handover of land in the section passing through Dien Chau district still has 53 plots of land that have not been completed, as mentioned above.
Mr. Hoang Van Chau, Deputy Director of Project Management Board 4 and the project's investor, stated: "The delay in handing over the land has prolonged the project. This not only affects environmental sanitation and the safety of vehicles passing through the unconstructed sections, but it also risks halting and scaling down the project. Because this is a public investment project, if it is not completed within the stipulated time, it will be forced to stop."
A section passing through Dien Cat commune cannot be constructed yet due to land acquisition issues. Photo: Tien Dong
Previously, on May 14, 2024, the Vietnam Road Administration sent Official Letter 3154/CĐBVN-CCĐT to the People's Committee of Nghe An province, requesting that they direct the districts of Yen Thanh, Do Luong, and especially Dien Chau district, and relevant provincial agencies to focus on resolving procedures according to regulations, establishing detailed timelines for completing procedures, and handing over the entire land area to the project within the timeframe directed by the Secretary of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee in Notice No. 1290-TB/TU dated April 10, 2024 (i.e., Dien Chau district must relocate technical infrastructure and hand over the remaining land sections before May 30, 2024 - PV).
A section of National Highway 7 passing through Dien Chau cannot be constructed due to land acquisition issues. Photo: Thanh Cuong
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If the People's Committees of the districts do not hand over the land for the project after May 30, 2024, the Vietnam Road Administration will have to report to the Ministry of Transport and will not proceed with construction in areas with land clearance issues, such as the section from Km3+810 to Km4+300 in Dien Cat commune, Dien Chau district...
Excerpt from Official Letter No. 3154/CĐBVN-CCĐT dated May 14, 2024, from the Vietnam Road Administration to the People's Committee of Nghe An Province.
Furthermore, on June 13, 2024, the Ministry of Transport also issued Official Dispatch No. 18 to the People's Committee of Nghe An province requesting the acceleration of land clearance for this project. To ensure the project is completed on schedule, meets objectives, and maximizes the effectiveness of investment capital, the Ministry of Transport requests the People's Committee of Nghe An province to pay more attention and decisively direct the districts through which the project passes and relevant provincial agencies to focus on resolving difficulties and obstacles, and definitively address outstanding land clearance issues by June 2024, creating favorable conditions for the contractor to have a clean site to commence construction.
Official letter from the Vietnam Road Administration to the People's Committee of Nghe An province. Photo: Tien Dong
Mr. Le Manh Hien, Vice Chairman of the Dien Chau District People's Committee, said: "In the past period, the District Compensation and Land Clearance Council has focused on preparing compensation and support dossiers for land and assets on the land, ensuring compliance with legal regulations. At the same time, we have regularly coordinated with the People's Committees of the communes to directly work with, exchange, and resolve requests and to encourage people to hand over the land as soon as possible. However, some households still deliberately refuse to comply and disagree with the draft compensation plan."
According to Mr. Hien, the district is currently focusing on directing the Councils and People's Committees of the communes to urgently appraise and approve the plans for all households whose plans are being publicly announced, and to continue persuading the remaining households (53 plots) to hand over the land in a timely manner.
Regarding the handover of land and the fulfillment of commitments to the province and investors, Mr. Le Manh Hien, Vice Chairman of the Dien Chau District People's Committee, also stated that the district is currently making every effort to disseminate information and encourage people to comply with the policy for the common good. It is expected that the entire land area along the route will be completed and handed over before August 10, 2024.
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