Need "support" for commune level to complete site clearance task well

From July 1, 2025, according to Decree No. 151/2025/ND-CP of the Government regulating the decentralization of authority of local governments at two levels, decentralization and decentralization in the land sector (Decree 151 of the Government), the People's Committees at the commune level are assigned to carry out procedures related to site clearance (GPMB). This policy is expected to promote the role of grassroots authorities, shorten the process and speed up the progress of infrastructure projects and key works. However, GPMB is a sensitive field, while land records are not synchronized, specialized human resources at the commune level are still thin, and many problems exceed their authority. That requires both delegating authority and removing "bottlenecks" so that the commune level can fully promote its newly assigned role.

Construction of the North-South Expressway connecting project with National Highway 1A to Nghi Son Port (through Tan Dan ward).

Actively participate

According to Plan No. 02/KH-UBND dated January 2, 2025, the whole province needs to clear 2,590.7 hectares for 686 projects. After converting the local government to 2 levels, communes and wards will review and eliminate inappropriate projects, add urgent projects and re-register targets. On September 23, 2025, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 3125/QD-UBND, assigning new clearance targets to localities, with 625 projects, an area of ​​more than 2,418 hectares, of which 457 are public investment projects, the rest are enterprise projects.

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, as of October 15, the whole province has cleared more than 1,334.5 hectares, reaching 55.18% of the plan. Although this result is not high compared to the requirements, there is a new point worth noting: In projects where commune-level leaders are closely involved, directly dialogue and have a firm grasp of the area, the progress has changed significantly compared to before. Notably, among the 144 communes and wards assigned to clear land, more than 40 communes and wards have completed or exceeded this year's target plan.

Many localities emerged as "bright spots". In Hoang Hoa commune, in 2025, the locality organized land acquisition for 7 major projects such as: Hoang Hoa riverside urban area, Hoang Dong urban area No. 1, No. 2, Hong Thai urban area... Up to now, the commune has paid compensation for more than 79.8 hectares, exceeding the assigned target, thereby creating a clean land to promote investment and urban development. In the communes of Hoang Giang, Hoang Son, Hoang Tien, the completion rate has reached 100% or more and the land lease procedures have been quickly and promptly implemented to start the project of Investment in construction and business of infrastructure of WHA Smart Technology 1 Industrial Park - Thanh Hoa .

In Nghi Son area, many communes were assigned large targets but also achieved good results such as: Truong Lam commune completed compensation payment for 81/98ha, reaching 82%; Nghi Son ward completed 18.2/9.4ha, exceeding 93% of the assigned target. Truc Lam ward completed compensation payment for nearly 34ha/45.3ha, reaching 74.5% and the locality set a target to exceed the 2025 target by about 30ha thanks to prioritizing key projects, closely following progress and removing difficulties right at the grassroots level.

More "support" is needed for communes to promote initiative.

Despite initial results, the progress of land acquisition and clearance in the whole province is still slow compared to the set target. According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, in addition to "inherent" difficulties such as inconsistent land records, lack of historical documents or loss causing the determination of land origin to take a long time, the operation of the two-level local government also gives rise to new problems.

When the 2024 Land Law takes effect, the compensation mechanism for garden and pond land adjacent to residential land has changed, no longer supporting 50% as before, leading to a lack of consensus among some people, prolonging the time of mobilization and persuasion. Meanwhile, Article 10 of Decree 151 of the Government allows the People's Committee at the commune level to apply "other support measures" depending on the actual situation. However, due to the lack of precedent and unified guidance, many localities in the province are still confused. Typically, in Tan Dan ward, up to this point, there are still 1.86 hectares with 150 households that have not handed over land to implement the North-South Expressway Connection Project, National Highway 1A to Nghi Son Port.

Hoang Hoa commune officials check the project location that needs land acquisition.

In particular, the professional human resources at the commune level are still too thin compared to the requirements of the task. Many localities have only 1 officer in charge but have to "embrace" the entire process of land acquisition, clearance, from inventory, determining land origin, making - advising on plans to payment, propaganda and explaining policies. Some communes have only 2 - 3 officers but have to handle the volume of land acquisition up to hundreds of hectares each year, while the legal documents are complicated, the scope of the project is wide... This is the reason why the progress of land acquisition for some projects is delayed, while the pressure on progress for key projects is increasing.

Mr. Mai Cao Cuong, Chairman of Truc Lam Ward People's Committee, shared: "In 2025, the locality is expected to have to clear about 500 hectares of land for many key projects such as the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis, Dong Vang Industrial Park, Industrial Park No. 3... If human resources are not increased and timely support is not provided, completing the target will be extremely stressful."

In addition, in some localities, the handover of documents from the old district level to the next level is incomplete, causing the process to be "discontinued". The commune is assigned tasks but lacks the legal basis to carry out the next steps, causing the commune level, although empowered, to not be able to fully promote its "leading" role in site clearance.

To maximize the role of the commune level in land acquisition, the Department of Agriculture and Environment recommends that the People's Committees of communes and wards continue to strengthen the leadership of Party committees and authorities in land acquisition work; uphold the sense of responsibility of leaders, concentrate resources and resolutely speed up progress according to plan. In cases where full rights have been guaranteed but still deliberately do not comply, the locality must resolutely enforce land acquisition and strictly handle the situation of taking advantage of policies to delay and profiteering.

Communes and wards also need to step up propaganda, dialogue, and create consensus among the people; at the same time, proactively coordinate and guide investors to complete procedures and legal documents. Localities must review, receive, and hand over complete land acquisition documents according to the transitional regulations in Decree 151 of the Government, avoiding "broken" processes. Regarding the application of "other support measures", the People's Committees at the commune level must base on the actual situation and report to the Party Committee before issuing a decision, ensuring democracy, publicity, fairness, transparency, and compliance with regulations, maintaining stability in the area, and creating conditions to accelerate the construction of key projects.

To resolve the difficulty in professional human resources for the commune level, the Provincial People's Committee has assigned the Department of Home Affairs to research, provide specific guidance and propose a mechanism to increase staff, including the solution of seconding professional staff on site clearance to the grassroots level to support localities in implementing tasks more effectively; thereby contributing to promoting the disbursement of public investment capital and speeding up the progress of key projects in the province. The Provincial People's Committee also requires communes and wards to promote a more proactive spirit within the scope of decentralized tasks, not to wait and push decentralized tasks to higher levels.

Land acquisition is a difficult and sensitive task, and in the initial stage when “authorized”, it will inevitably encounter difficulties and confusion. However, with increased human resources, adequate tools, unified guidance and determination from the grassroots, the commune level can fully meet the requirements of the task. When the “bottlenecks” are synchronously removed, the land acquisition work will shorten the implementation time, create a clean site for key projects, and at the same time strengthen people’s consensus and maintain stability in the area.

Article and photos: Tung Lam

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/can-tro-luc-de-cap-xa-hoan-thanh-tot-nhiem-vu-giai-phong-mat-bang-266825.htm