Removing obstacles in granting "red books" in Van To and Cong Lac communes

More than 20 years without being granted a "red book"

Mr. Nguyen Duc Hien in My An village, Van To commune said that in 1996, his family bought a plot of land in the village with a road width of 5m for 15 million VND to live. Mr. Hien's family still keeps the receipt from the commune People's Committee. Up to now, after 28 years, the family has not been granted a "red book". "My family wants to be granted a land use right certificate for peace of mind", Mr. Hien said.

Mr. Bui Van Hieu's family in Cau Mang hamlet, My An village also bought 182 square meters of residential land from the People's Committee of Van To commune in 1998. Every year, the family still pays taxes according to regulations but has not yet been granted a "red book". Mr. Hieu said: My family and many other households here have requested many times to be granted a "red book" for the purchased land plot but have not been granted one yet. This reality makes us worried. When the family wanted to borrow capital to do business, they also encountered difficulties because they did not have a "red book" to mortgage to the bank...

Sharing the same concern, 27 households in Cong Lac commune (Tu Ky) are also waiting for their "red books" after "buying land" from the People's Committee of Cong Lac commune during the period from 1996 to 2004, but have not received them yet.

Through the reporter's investigation, in recent years, many people in Van To and Cong Lac communes have petitioned and reported to the provincial and Tu Ky district authorities, and even directly reported to the Provincial Party Secretary at the citizen reception in October 2023 about the request to be granted "red books" for the land lots purchased from the local government.

According to the People's Committee of Tu Ky district, the issuance of the first "red book" at the request of households in the two communes above encountered many difficulties. Specifically, 27 cases in Cong Lac commune and 54 cases in Van To commune are using land in locations that have been permitted by the Provincial People's Committee to change the purpose for auction, but the People's Committees of the communes assigned the land to households for use with land use fees collected before preparing the application for permission to change the land use purpose for auction. Therefore, the area and size of the allocated land plots are not correct according to the approved ground plan. The boundaries and landmarks at the time of changing the land use purpose are within the current planning of the protection corridor of Provincial Road 391.

How to remove?

After receiving instructions from the provincial leaders, in December 2023, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment presided over and coordinated with relevant agencies to work and reach a consensus on advising the Provincial People's Committee to resolve problems in issuing "red books" for the first time for the above cases.

Through the review of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, for the cases in Cong Lac commune, in 1998, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 2007/1998/QD-UB dated August 10, 1998 allowing the Tu Ky District People's Committee to auction 3,040 m2 of land at the intersection of Tat Thuong village to hand over to people for housing construction. However, the Tu Ky District People's Committee did not conduct the auction, allowing the Cong Lac Commune People's Committee to hand over land with land use fees to 27 households (from 1996 to 2004). In addition, the Cong Lac Commune People's Committee also handed over an additional 5,528 m2 of adjacent land to these households with fees.

For the cases in Van To commune, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 2281/QD-UB dated November 11, 1996 and Decision No. 2630/1998/QD-UB dated October 12, 1998 allowing the auction of 8,810 m2 of land in Dong Kenh, Dong Lam, and My An villages to be allocated to people for housing construction. Tu Ky District People's Committee also did not conduct the auction, allowing Van To Commune People's Committee to allocate land with land use fees to a number of households (from 1996-2004). Currently, 54 households are using land for housing, including a part of the land area assigned by the Commune People's Committee located in the planning of the protection corridor of Road 391, and a part of the area that households encroached on added agricultural land behind the land plot assigned by the Commune People's Committee.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the inter-sectoral agencies met and agreed to consult on a solution and the Provincial People's Committee agreed with the proposal to resolve these cases. On December 15, 2023, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to review, research and advise the Provincial People's Committee to cancel 3 decisions on land use rights auction of the Provincial People's Committee (Decision No. 2281/QD-UB dated November 11, 1996, No. 2630/1998/QD-UB dated October 12, 1998 and No. 2007/1998/QD-UB dated August 10, 1998) because the decisions were not implemented and are not suitable for reality to date. Request the People's Committee of Tu Ky district to direct the review, clarify responsibilities, consider and handle relevant collectives and individuals for not implementing decisions on land use rights auctions, allowing the People's Committees of Cong Lac and Van To communes to allocate land beyond their authority, loosen management, allowing people to encroach and use land for the wrong purpose. The People's Committee of Tu Ky district shall inspect and clarify the time of land allocation beyond their authority, the amount of money collected from each household; direct and implement the review and issuance of the first "red book" to households in accordance with the provisions of law, ensuring compliance with land use planning, collecting correctly and fully all financial obligations on land according to regulations, and not causing loss to the state budget. Completion time in the first quarter of 2024...

Through the reporter's investigation, on January 4, 2024, the Chairman of Tu Ky District People's Committee assigned the district's functional agencies to implement the instructions and requests of the provincial leaders. Currently, Tu Ky District Inspectorate is conducting surprise inspections of the implementation of regulations on state management of land by Van To Commune People's Committee in Lam Dong and My An villages. The People's Committees of Van To and Cong Lac communes are reviewing records, determining land types, land origins, land use times of households and performing tasks as required.