Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Project: Listening to the people and "going to every alley, knocking on every door" (Part 2)

Lesson 2: Soft solutions to resolve all problems

Before the special task force officially began operating, Bien Hoa city considered the option of forcibly handing over land to about 600 households at the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Project.

Bien Hoa City Party Secretary Ho Van Nam (middle) and Bien Hoa City People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Phong An talk with a household in Phuoc Tan Ward, Bien Hoa City. Photo: P.Tung

And, the encouraging thing is that the risk of a “hot spot” outbreak due to the large number of households having to forcibly hand over their land has not occurred. The consensus of the people after being propagandized and mobilized is the key to resolving this risk.

Propaganda to create consensus from the people

In February 2025, at a working session with the leaders of the Provincial People's Committee on the implementation of site clearance for the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Project, Vice Chairman of the Bien Hoa City People's Committee Vu Quoc Thai said that the city had calculated the plan to forcibly hand over the site for about
500-600 households.

"Most of these households bought land with handwritten documents and built houses on agricultural land, so verifying the origin of the land, making compensation plans, and resettlement support (TDC) according to regulations encountered many difficulties, causing people to not agree to hand over the land," said Mr. Vu Quoc Thai.

Regarding this information, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Ha said that enforcement should only be the last resort, after fully applying propaganda, mobilization and dialogue measures with the people. Land is not only property, but also a place of long-standing attachment, memories, and livelihoods of the people; if enforcement is rushed when the people do not agree, it can create resentment, give rise to conflicts, and even cause insecurity and disorder. Enforcement, if forced to be carried out, must ensure proper procedures, comply with the law and always respect the legitimate rights of the people.

Implementing the direction of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee, on February 14, 2025, the Standing Committee of Bien Hoa City Party Committee issued Notice No. 1702-TB/TU on establishing special working groups of the city to mobilize people to hand over land for the implementation of the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Project.

From February 17 to 25, 6 working groups decided to establish by Bien Hoa City Party Committee directly contacted, propagandized and mobilized more than 850 households with the motto "going to every alley, knocking on every door". As a result, in just 10 days, 173 plots of land were recovered, 139 households with assets built on other people's land agreed to hand over the site.

Secretary of the Phuoc Tan Ward Party Committee (Bien Hoa City) Nguyen Dac Tuyen said that the entire political system of the ward has joined in coordinating with the city's working groups and the Provincial Land Fund Development Center to mobilize people. In addition to propaganda and mobilization, the ward also focuses on resolving petitions and legitimate concerns to create high consensus. Resettlement cases are guided through lottery procedures and supported with land construction records; households that do not meet the resettlement conditions are proposed to be given priority to buy social housing, receive temporary housing support, or pay support payments according to regulations so that people can soon stabilize their lives.

Realizing that there were still many cases of disagreement, after the 10-day campaign, Bien Hoa City Party Secretary Ho Van Nam directed to continue to strengthen propaganda and campaigning. Working groups were asked to review each case of disagreement, consensus but not yet relocated... to better prepare for the next campaigns.

Throughout March, all 6 working groups did not take weekends off, continuously propagandizing and mobilizing until completing the task. At the same time, the leaders of the City Party Committee and People's Committee also organized direct dialogues with households that did not agree or had unsettled petitions. By the end of March 2025, more than 880 households had agreed to hand over the land.

Solve all problems

According to the Bien Hoa City Party Committee, as of April 18, 2025, the time when Bien Hoa city hands over 100% of the land area of ​​the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Project, there is only one case where land recovery protection measures must be applied.

“Initially, it was expected that about 600 cases would be forced to be evicted, and in fact the city issued 247 decisions on forced eviction. However, in the end, only one household had to protect and recover the land, the rest voluntarily handed over the land,” said Bien Hoa City Party Secretary Ho Van Nam.

According to Mr. Nam, in addition to the difficulty due to the lack of consensus from the people, another major problem that made the land acquisition and clearance work seem to fall into a "dead end" was due to the initial inaccurate documents. The Provincial Land Fund Development Center, the investor of the Land Acquisition and Clearance Sub-project of the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway Project through Bien Hoa City, was completely dependent on the documents provided by the local authorities. Meanwhile, land management at the grassroots level in previous years was still loose, leading to incorrect location determination, causing frustration among the people.

Faced with this situation, Bien Hoa City has requested the Provincial Land Fund Development Center to carefully review the documents, analyze each specific case to develop an effective mobilization plan. It is requested that wherever the working group mobilizes, the clean land be received and immediately handed over to the investor for construction. The city also promotes the settlement of petitions and recommendations beyond its authority, and recommends the province to consider them. At the same time, organize resettlement lottery rounds, speed up the infrastructure construction project of resettlement areas.

In late March and early April 2025, dialogues between city leaders and residents were held more frequently to inform residents about the estimated land prices in resettlement areas, housing rental support policies while waiting for resettlement, or priority for purchasing social housing for those who do not meet resettlement conditions.

In Tam Phuoc ward, as of March 26, all 364 households in the project area agreed to hand over the land. Not only did the project reach its target ahead of the city’s deadline, but the locality did not have to apply coercive measures to any household.

Chairman of Tam Phuoc Ward People's Committee Nguyen Tri Tan shared that the ward has mobilized the entire political and social system to coordinate with the city's working groups and specialized agencies to thoroughly resolve each petition of the people; at the same time, proactively supporting the dismantling and relocation of assets, reviewing boarding houses to introduce to the people while waiting for resettlement.

“For the common development of the province and city, my family agreed to hand over the land early, even though we have not received a compensation plan or compensation money,” said Mr. Le Tu Hieu (residing in Long Duc 3 quarter, Tam Phuoc ward), who voluntarily handed over 400 square meters of land to the project.

According to Mr. Hieu, the great need of the people is to be clearly explained and receive the best support policies to soon stabilize their new lives. "When meeting and talking with the government, we are clearly informed about what support and compensation we will receive, so we are ready to hand over the land" - Mr. Hieu shared more.

Director of the Provincial Land Fund Development Center Mai Phong Phu said that mobilizing more than 1,500 households in just over 1.5 months was a result beyond expectations, nearly 3 times the total number of households agreeing during the previous nearly 2 years.

"The most encouraging thing is that the number of cases requiring enforcement is limited to the lowest level," said Mr. Mai Phong Phu.

Pham Tung - Hoang Loc

Lesson 3: The core is consensus

In mid-March 2025, at a working session with Dong Nai province to hear reports on the construction progress of the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau and Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway projects, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc, Head of Inspection Team No. 6 on reviewing and removing difficulties and obstacles related to the Government's key transport projects, emphasized: "In site clearance work, the fewer households are forced to evict, the more successful it will be."

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/kinh-te/202505/du-an-duong-cao-toc-bien-hoa-vung-tau-lang-nghe-dan-va-di-tung-ngo-go-cua-tung-nha-bai-2-4213267/