Macadamia planting projects reduced by 30,430 hectares.

Báo Tài nguyên Môi trường•19/07/2023

To gradually resolve land-related procedural obstacles and facilitate macadamia project investors in Dien Bien , since the beginning of 2023, the Dien Bien Provincial People's Committee has urged and directed relevant departments, agencies, and localities to expedite the process of land and forest allocation, and the issuance of land use rights certificates for forestry land in areas with macadamia planting projects as soon as possible. At the same time, investors were required to commit to ensuring project implementation progress in 2023 and subsequent years. However, after the deadline passed without the investors fulfilling their commitments, the Dien Bien Provincial People's Committee recently decided to reduce the scale of macadamia planting projects throughout the province.

At the meeting of the Steering Committee for the implementation of macadamia planting investment projects in the province, held on the afternoon of July 12th, it was agreed to adjust and reduce the area of macadamia planting projects across the province by 30,430 hectares in 8 out of 13 projects.

Mr. Lo Van Tien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Bien province, concluded the meeting of the Steering Committee for the implementation of macadamia nut planting investment projects in the province.

By the end of the second quarter of 2023, 13 macadamia tree planting projects in the province had received investment approval, covering an area of 85,814 hectares. Currently, 5 out of 13 projects have had their investment plans approved by investors; 2 out of 13 projects have completed the investment plan preparation and are undergoing consultation with relevant departments and local authorities for project appraisal. To date, 23,103 hectares of land have been surveyed and registered, reaching 27% of the total area to be surveyed; and 4,871.85 hectares of macadamia trees have been planted, achieving 15% of the approved progress for 2023.

According to the Steering Committee's assessment, the progress of macadamia tree planting projects by investors is very slow. Currently, it is the reforestation season, but only 7 out of 13 projects have carried out site preparation and seedling preparation for planting (of which 4 projects are currently planting); 5 out of 13 projects have not yet started. Most investors have not been proactive or serious in completing the project approval documents and procedures, which serve as the legal basis for implementing the next steps, especially procedures related to land; and issues related to seedling quality and technical support throughout the project implementation process...

Members of the Steering Committee, local leaders, and investors generally agreed with the consolidated proposal from the Department of Planning and Investment regarding the request to adjust and reduce the scale of macadamia planting projects in Dien Bien province.

Accordingly, the Department of Planning and Investment proposed adjusting the scale of the projects according to two options. Option 1: Adjusting the area by 30,430 hectares across 8 out of 13 macadamia planting projects, including: 18,397 hectares of state-leased land and 12,030 hectares of land under contract with local people. The total area after adjustment will be 57,438 hectares; of which, 38,862 hectares will be state-leased and 18,575 hectares will be under contract with local people. Option 2: Since the macadamia planting projects all have a land use coefficient of approximately 60-65%, the Department of Planning and Investment proposed reducing the actual planted area. This option includes the reduced area of the 8 projects in Option 1 and further proposes reducing the area of the remaining 5 projects. The total area after the scale reduction is 41,826 hectares; of which, the area leased by the State is 27,751 hectares, and the area under cooperation with local people is 14,076 hectares.

Concluding the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Lo Van Tien affirmed: The Steering Committee for the implementation of macadamia planting investment projects unanimously agreed to strictly implement Notice No. 611-TB/TU dated October 11, 2022, of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee regarding the consideration of reducing the scale of projects that are behind schedule compared to the investor's commitment. The Steering Committee unanimously agreed to consider adjusting the scale of macadamia planting investment projects in two phases: Phase 1, considering a reduction of 30,430 hectares for 8 out of 13 macadamia planting investment projects according to the proposal of Option 1 from the Department of Planning and Investment. Phase 2, the Steering Committee will consider adjusting the scale at the end of November 2023. The Steering Committee requests the Department of Planning and Investment to coordinate with the members of the Steering Committee, the People's Committees of districts and cities, and investors to promptly complete the dossiers and procedures for adjusting and reducing the scale of the first phase of projects no later than July 20th.

Officials from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Muong Ang district, Dien Bien province, inspect the growth progress of macadamia trees at the Muong Ang Veterans Association Macadamia Cooperative.

Regarding the progress of macadamia tree planting projects in the area, it is known that since the beginning of 2022, after many meetings as mentioned above, the progress of implementing the project's various tasks, such as land surveying, land ownership registration, and new macadamia tree planting, has not seen much improvement.

Notably, besides the slow progress, some investors have shown indifference and a lack of enthusiasm in working with local authorities to resolve obstacles; some investors have left the initial planting and care to the people, even though macadamia is a new crop that requires specific care techniques.

Mr. Le Khanh Hoa, Secretary of the Nam Po District Party Committee, reported: Within the district, there are two projects: the high-tech macadamia planting project in Muong Nha and Nam Po districts, implemented by Him Lam Macadamia Dien Bien Joint Stock Company, and the intensive macadamia cultivation project implemented by Dien Bien High-Tech Agriculture and Tourism Joint Stock Company. The total planned area for macadamia planting for these two projects amounts to 15,855 hectares.

In conjunction with the investor's project implementation, as soon as the Provincial People's Committee approved the investment policy, the Party Committee and government of Nậm Pồ district promptly took action, establishing a district steering committee and four working groups to assist the steering committee; directing the establishment of 121 grassroots mass mobilization teams to directly hold meetings and disseminate information to the people about the future, effectiveness of macadamia trees, and job opportunities that macadamia projects will bring.

However, in response to the local authorities' responsible intervention, the investor has been indifferent and irresponsible. “The district leaders called and sent invitations to the investor to discuss and agree on a solution, but the investor didn't listen, and didn't respond to the invitations. This makes the local authorities' communication efforts even more difficult, and the people have lost faith,” Mr. Le Khanh Hoa emphasized.

In Muong Ang, one of the districts that has proactively implemented most of the tasks related to land procedures, propaganda, and mobilization of people to agree with macadamia planting projects, the project progress in Muong Ang is still slow and some problems are beginning to arise from the investor's side.

To illustrate this point, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dat, Secretary of the Muong Ang District Party Committee, said: "In the total planned area for macadamia cultivation in Muong Ang, the district has allocated funds for surveying and land registration on over 1,800 hectares for businesses to cultivate macadamia under a land lease agreement. However, despite repeated phone calls and official letters from district leaders inviting them, the businesses have not responded."

Despite numerous frank and decisive meetings held by the Dien Bien Provincial People's Committee to address difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of macadamia nut development projects in the area, the progress of these projects has not improved significantly, with many tasks remaining stalled. This situation has had a considerable impact on the confidence of the people in the project areas and the expectations of the local Party committee and government.

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