Many transport projects have land issues

The investment project to build provincial road 394B from National Highway 5 to the Sat River overpass is being implemented at a slow pace due to the lack of a clean site.

Currently, many transport projects invested by the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board have had to temporarily stop construction or work at a slow pace due to problems in the implementation process, mainly related to land clearance. This reality has greatly affected the progress of project implementation and investment efficiency.

Late handover of premises

The investment project to build the Dong Viet bridge approach road connecting National Highway 37 (Chi Linh) was approved by the Provincial People's Council in February 2021 and the Provincial People's Committee approved the feasibility study report in December 2021 with a total investment of more than 469 billion VND. The route is more than 5 km long, the starting point (km8 + 590) is in Hung Dao commune, connecting the end point of the Dong Viet bridge construction project and the approach road to the bridge invested by the Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee; the end point (km13 + 887.5) intersects National Highway 37 in Cong Hoa ward. This project aims to create an inter-provincial connecting route from the newly planned Road 398, the old DH04 (Yen Dung district, Bac Giang province) to National Highway 37 (Chi Linh) to serve the travel needs of people and transport of goods in the area, developing tourism at the Con Son - Kiep Bac special national relic site. The completed route will contribute to gradually completing the northern traffic system of the province, exploiting land funds to serve tourism development, regional services, promoting socio-economic development of Chi Linh city in particular and the two provinces of Hai Duong - Bac Giang in general.

After completing the procedures, at the end of 2022, the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board selected a contractor to construct this project. However, the project has not yet been implemented due to the lack of access roads. Chi Linh City has just cleared a part of the agricultural land within the project scope. Meanwhile, the Dong Viet Bridge project and the access road on the Bac Giang side are being accelerated.

The investment project to build provincial road 394B, the section from National Highway 5 to the Sat River overpass with a total investment of more than 147 billion VND in Cam Dien commune (Cam Giang) was approved by the Provincial People's Committee for a feasibility study report in December 2021 with a length of 737 m. The starting point of the route is at km0+00 at the intersection of National Highway 5, the end point is at km0+737 connecting to the Sat River overpass (invested by Trung Quy Bac Ninh Joint Stock Company). The project is implemented in the period of 2021-2025 and according to the annual capital plan. This completed route will synchronously connect with the bridge over the Sat River and the section of provincial road 394B passing through the expanded Phuc Dien industrial park, forming an inter-regional traffic route, connecting National Highway 5 with provincial road 395, creating favorable conditions to attract investors, contributing to creating momentum for socio-economic development of Binh Giang and Cam Giang districts in particular and the province in general.

Uncleared area of ​​Cam Dien - Luong Dien industrial park access road project (Cam Giang)

According to the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board, on September 23, 2021, the unit handed over the GPMB piles, and on April 12, 2022, handed over the land acquisition map for the implementation of the Provincial Road 394B project from National Highway 5 to the Sat River overpass to the locality. According to the contract signed with the construction contractor, the construction time of this project is from January 2023 and will be completed in November 2023. However, up to now, the project is under construction at a standstill due to site clearance problems. The area at the beginning of the route adjacent to National Highway 5 has not been cleared yet, so the construction unit has no access road to implement.

In addition to difficulties in construction site, the project to build a railway feeder road between Hanoi and Hai Phong in Kim Thanh district is also having to temporarily suspend construction due to problems with the agreement on the location of the railway signal and information lines for land acquisition and clearance to implement the project. The province approved the feasibility study report for this project in December 2020, including 5 sections with a total length of more than 4 km on the right side of the Hanoi - Hai Phong railway line. The total land acquisition area is about 3.6 hectares through the communes of Tuan Viet, Kim Xuyen, Phuc Thanh and Kim Lien. Currently, the land acquisition work according to the approved design documents is basically completed, but the agreement on the location of the railway signal and information lines as required by the Ministry of Transport is still stuck. The Provincial Investment and Construction Project Management Board is adjusting the design according to the Ministry's opinion. Therefore, the project has just started construction of the roadbed and has had to temporarily suspend construction.

Waiting for removal

According to the People's Committee of Chi Linh City, the Dong Viet Bridge approach road project passing through the wards and communes of Hung Dao, Le Loi, and Cong Hoa has a very large volume of land acquisition. The total land acquisition area is nearly 24 hectares of more than 300 households. The Compensation and Resettlement Support Council has completed the inventory of assets and structures for households whose land was acquired, and established and approved compensation plans for a number of households in the above localities. However, during the implementation process, many households still have questions about the origin of the land, so they have not agreed to receive compensation. Currently, the People's Committees of Le Loi, Hung Dao communes and Cong Hoa ward are focusing on speeding up the process of reviewing the origin of land and assets on specific types of land to serve as a basis for establishing compensation and support plans for these households.

Through the reporter's investigation, regarding the land acquisition for the Dong Viet bridge approach road, the People's Committee of Chi Linh City is reporting and asking for opinions from departments, branches, and the Provincial People's Committee on a plan to resolve problems related to households using land contracted by the forestry farm (now managed by the Hai Duong Forest Management Board), households reclaiming land to grow perennial crops, households requesting to reclaim the remaining area that is not qualified for residence or cultivation...

Regarding the provincial road 394B project from National Highway 5 to the Sat River overpass, the area of ​​land recovered to implement this project is about more than 4 hectares, including agricultural land recovered from 54 households, 7 households contracted public land and 3 private enterprises. According to the People's Committee of Cam Giang district, up to now, the locality has completed compensation and support for agricultural land. The project's site clearance work still has some problems related to compensation and support for assets on land of organizations and individuals on converted land. Some households and enterprises whose land must be recovered at the beginning of the project have not yet approved the compensation plan. The locality is reporting and requesting a specific support mechanism.

Due to land clearance problems, the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board has extended the construction deadline for a number of traffic projects that have expired according to the contract. Affirming the importance of site clearance work for the projects, Deputy Director of the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board Le Anh Tuan shared that traffic projects have a common characteristic of running along the route. The scope of land recovery and use for the project is often large, involving many households and works. Therefore, site clearance work is more difficult and complicated than other projects. For the project to be implemented smoothly and on schedule, site clearance work must be one step ahead. The locality must hand over the clean site early so that the construction unit can ensure the progress, promptly deploy, complete and put the works into operation to promote the efficiency of investment capital, improve the material and spiritual life of the people and create momentum for local socio-economic development.

PHAN ANH

In addition to the above-mentioned traffic projects, the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board is currently implementing a number of other traffic projects such as: East-West axis road of Hai Duong province, Cam Dien - Luong Dien industrial park access road (Cam Giang), the road connecting provincial road 398B with Quang Ninh road 345. Of which, provincial road 398B with Quang Ninh provincial road 345 has been constructed for 1.8 out of a total of 2.4 km and is currently suspended due to problems in reclamation and conversion of forest land use purposes; the remaining 2 projects are still stuck with site clearance. In addition to the above-mentioned projects, many other traffic projects are implementing investment preparation procedures to start construction in the near future.

Site clearance work requires the entire political system to participate. In the process of implementing projects in the province, site clearance is the top priority task. The implementation of projects in the province shows that most of the works and projects, especially transport infrastructure projects in the province, have encountered difficulties in land acquisition and clearance. The main difficulties are related to determining the origin of land, compensation and resettlement support policies, job creation support, and job conversion for people whose land is recovered, and support for assets built on recovered land. Many people whose land is recovered believe that: the compensation price for land is lower than the market price; the price for paying land use fees when arranging resettlement is higher than the compensation price for land clearance; the compensation price for agricultural land is still low compared to the actual transfer price... There are many reasons for the current difficulties in land acquisition and compensation. These include the mechanisms, policies, and regulations on land acquisition, compensation, and land acquisition, although they have been specifically regulated in detail in the 2013 Land Law and sub-law documents, there are still many issues arising in practice that the promulgated regulations are not suitable or not fully regulated, causing difficulties for professional units in the implementation process. In addition, there are also subjective reasons from the local government such as: preparing resettlement land funds before implementing land acquisition of families; propaganda, mobilization, and explanation for people to clearly understand the provisions of the law are still limited, even evasive, lacking determination, and not completely resolving existing problems. In some localities, land management in the previous period was still limited, leading to violations in the process of using agricultural and forestry land. Many land reclamation projects have encountered difficulties due to illegal construction and improper land use. In addition, some people lack legal knowledge or deliberately make requests and demands that are not in accordance with current laws. In order to contribute to accelerating the progress of projects and works, creating momentum for the socio-economic development of each locality, compensation for site clearance needs to be given special attention, requiring the entire political system to focus on directing the implementation in a synchronous, unified and timely manner. Before implementing projects and works, localities need to prepare resettlement land funds for projects that recover residential land from people, propagate and mobilize in combination with timely explanation and provision of complete project information to create high consensus among the people. Departments, branches and localities need to organize and implement procedures for land recovery, compensation and support for site clearance to ensure publicity, democracy, and guarantee the rights and legitimate interests of the people. Promptly resolve questions, recommendations, aspirations of the people on the basis of compliance with the State's regimes and policies. Localities need to pay attention to improving the quality of human resources directly implementing site clearance work. NGUYEN THI NHU TRANG Deputy Director of Department of Natural Resources and Environment