The commune created a fictitious list and withheld disaster relief funds.

For many years, the people of Dien Hai commune (Dien Chau district) have been extremely upset to learn that the government's financial assistance for households affected by natural disasters has not yet reached them. Recently, their anger has intensified upon discovering that the list compiled by the Dien Hai People's Committee and Agricultural Cooperative is a fabricated list, with forged signatures.

Many areas of crops affected in 2011 were not recorded and listed by the local authorities, making it impossible to disburse compensation.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Vinh, Vice Chairman of the Dien Chau District People's Committee, said that recently, the District Party Committee's Inspection Committee also came to investigate and clarify the responsibilities of the relevant officials. "The results of the inspection by the Dien Chau District Party Committee's Inspection Committee show that the list was compiled by the cooperative and the local authorities themselves, and the signatures of the people were forged. Currently, the district is assigning the commune to hold a meeting with the people to create an accurate list, which will then be submitted to the district and the treasury to withdraw the money and pay it back to the people," Mr. Vinh said.

Further asserting that the list compiled by the Dien Hai district government and agricultural cooperative at that time was inaccurate, Mr. Nguyen Van Vien, Deputy Chairman of the Dien Chau District Party Committee's Inspection Committee, stated that this meant the number of households and the area of ​​damage on the list were also incorrect. Meanwhile, while the people did suffer losses, there were no documents or records to document it at the time.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Phan Van Thuyen, Chairman of the Dien Hai Commune People's Committee, said that the commune had held meetings with residents in each hamlet to review the list for payment, but because the list at that time was fabricated, many people who were not eligible for assistance were included, so the people did not agree. "The people proposed a 'one-size-fits-all' distribution to all residents in the commune, but this plan was not approved by the district, so the 259 million VND has been deposited into the treasury account, awaiting instructions from higher authorities," Mr. Thuyen said.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, a resident of Dien Hai commune (Dien Chau district), believes that the disciplinary action taken against the violating officials is not satisfactory.

Previously, in 2011, Dien Hai commune was affected by three natural disasters: Typhoon No. 2, the September floods, and severe cold weather, causing heavy damage to agricultural production. In response, Nghe An province decided to support the people in restoring agricultural production by allocating over 148 million VND to 1,427 households across 10 villages in the commune.

Meanwhile, Dien Chau district provided over 50 million VND in support to 613 households. During the 2011 winter-spring season, Dien Hai commune continued to suffer from severe cold weather, causing crop damage to 697 households. Dien Chau district provided 40 million VND in support. In addition, there were other forms of support, bringing the total amount approved by higher authorities for Dien Hai commune residents to restore production and address difficulties to 259 million VND.

Following the decision, Dien Hai commune withdrew 136 million VND from the treasury twice and transferred 40 million VND to the Dien Hai Agricultural Cooperative's budget, leaving over 95 million VND in the commune's budget. To date, the commune has yet to process the withdrawal of 122 million VND to pay the people. The 40 million VND transferred to the cooperative has still not been paid to the people, even though more than 6 years have passed.

On February 9, 2017, the Dien Hai Commune People's Council's supervisory team held a meeting with the Commune People's Committee regarding this issue and concluded that the Commune People's Committee and the Commune Finance Committee had not yet disbursed the support funds to the people according to the aforementioned decisions, which was contrary to regulations and showed a lack of responsibility towards the people.

The headquarters of the Dien Hai Commune People's Committee - where the aforementioned violations occurred.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Vinh, Vice Chairman of the Dien Chau District People's Committee, added: "If there is actual damage, we will compensate the people; if there is no damage, the district will collect the money and return it to the province. According to regulations, if the money is not disbursed to the people after one year, it will be collected back. This happened between 2011 and 2015 and was only discovered then."

Thus, to date, the legitimate rights of people who suffered losses in agricultural production due to natural disasters and who are entitled to state support have remained unresolved for over six years. We request that the People's Committee of Dien Chau District promptly take measures to resolve this issue definitively, ensuring the legitimate rights of farmers, and disciplining officials who have committed violations in accordance with regulations.

Following the misconduct of the leaders of Dien Hai Commune People's Committee, the Dien Chau District Party Committee recently disciplined Mr. Tran Van Tien, Secretary of the Dien Hai Commune Party Committee (formerly Chairman of the Dien Hai Commune People's Committee at that time), with a Party warning and transferred him to the position of Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of another commune. The Commune Party Committee also conducted a Party reprimand for Mr. Ha Van Tai, the commune's accountant, and Mr. Bui Van Tien, the commune's land administration official.

However, many residents disagreed with the disciplinary decisions against the violating officials. Mr. Le The Luy and Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh (residents of the commune) submitted petitions to various levels of government requesting harsher disciplinary action against the officials involved at the time. According to Mr. Thanh, the reprimand and reassignment of Mr. Tran Van Tien to the position of Deputy Secretary of another commune was too lenient.

After receiving the citizen's complaint, the Dien Chau District Party Committee's Inspection Committee issued a response stating that the violations of Dien Hai commune officials had been investigated, verified, concluded, and disciplined by the competent authorities in accordance with regulations. Currently, the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee has issued a document instructing the Chairman of the Dien Chau District People's Committee to direct the handling of the citizen's complaint according to regulations and report to the Provincial People's Committee before February 28, 2018.