Working far away, Nghe An man suddenly lost his house and land

Six years ago, Mr. Dinh, while visiting his hometown, was shocked to discover that his house had been demolished and his land had become the grounds of a kindergarten. It turned out that the An Hoa commune government (Quynh Luu district) had arbitrarily changed Mr. Dinh's land to another location. To this day, the new land that the government promised to change for him has yet to be seen.

Commune arbitrarily reclaimed land

For the past 6 years, Mr. Tran Ba ​​Dinh (55 years old, An Hoa commune, Quynh Luu), has sent dozens of complaints and knocked on the doors of all government agencies, but to this day, he has not received compensation after the government illegally confiscated his land.

“I am also very tired. This incident was the government’s fault, I have accepted that I have suffered a lot, but I don’t understand why they still refuse to resolve it,” Mr. Dinh said, shaking his head.

In 1996, after being discharged from the army, Mr. Dinh returned to his hometown and bought a plot of land along the provincial road in the center of the commune, both to build a house and to practice hairdressing. The plot of land that Mr. Dinh bought to build a house has an area of ^​​100m2 , adjacent to An Hoa Commune Kindergarten behind. Mr. Dinh was granted a land use right certificate by the People's Committee of Quynh Luu district in 1996. This is currently considered "golden land" because of its central location, convenient for business.

An Hoa commune's land officer pointed to Mr. Dinh's land plot that was confiscated to expand the kindergarten campus.

Some time later, Mr. Dinh went to the South to make a living, and his house was looked after by his cousin, Mr. Vo Ngoc Hung. Mr. Dinh said that because he was busy with work, he rarely returned home. In 2019, when he returned to his hometown, he was surprised to find that his house was gone, and the land had been turned into the outside yard of a kindergarten. It turned out that Mr. Dinh's land had been reclaimed by the commune to expand the kindergarten yard since 2017. "The commune government reclaimed my land but only worked with Mr. Vo Ngoc Hung, without informing me. Mr. Hung also did not say anything to me," Mr. Dinh said.

After working with the People's Committee of An Hoa commune, Mr. Dinh agreed to the government's promise to exchange him for another plot of land. Discussing this matter, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quyet - Chairman of the People's Committee of An Hoa commune in 2017, said that because Mr. Dinh's house was rented out to open a mechanical workshop, iron and steel often fell in front of the school gate, causing unsafe conditions for students, so the commune government at that time decided to demolish the house and take this plot of land to expand the campus. At the same time, exchange Mr. Dinh for another plot of land. "We also simply thought that it was for a good purpose. So we only worked with the caretaker, Mr. Vo Ngoc Hung, and asked Mr. Hung to demolish the house himself," Mr. Quyet said.

However, many years have passed, but the local government has yet to fulfill its promise to provide another plot of land to compensate Mr. Dinh.

“At first, I was very upset, but I didn’t make things difficult. I spent 300 million VND to build that house, and now that it has been demolished, I don’t ask for compensation anymore, I just decided to donate it. I only ask to be given another plot of land or compensated in cash for the plot of land that the commune has taken back. If I were compensated in cash, I would only need 1.2 billion VND, which is difficult to buy land in the commune center now. As for compensation in another plot of land, I don’t ask for anything too big, I even accept to take the pond land in the old medical station that not many people want to buy, but I can’t do it,” said Mr. Dinh.

Before being recovered, Mr. Dinh's land plot was located in the center of An Hoa commune, in front was the provincial road, behind was the kindergarten.

Did Quynh Luu district ignore the directive?

Despite suffering losses and accepting the promise of exchanging land plots from the local government, Mr. Dinh waited year after year, but was still not granted land by the government. Mr. Dinh then repeatedly filed complaints to the People's Committee of Quynh Luu district to demand his rights. At the citizen reception session on June 20, 2022, Mr. Hoang Van Bo - Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Luu district criticized the People's Committee of An Hoa commune for carrying out the land exchange to clear the site for construction without basing on legal regulations. At the same time, the People's Committee of An Hoa commune was assigned to preside over asking for opinions from specialized departments to resolve the issue, ensuring the rights of citizens.

In September 2022, also at the regular citizen reception session, Mr. Nguyen Van Quy - Vice Chairman of Quynh Luu District People's Committee, after listening to Mr. Dinh's reflection, also issued a concluding document, in which "assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to preside over and coordinate with relevant departments to direct and guide An Hoa Commune People's Committee to develop a plan for compensation and site clearance and carry out the next steps".

However, when the Commune People's Committee reported in writing, requesting the Chairman of the Quynh Luu District People's Committee to approve and allow the commune to carry out compensation for site clearance and grant new residential land to Mr. Dinh, the District People's Committee did not agree. In a written response to the An Hoa Commune People's Committee in July 2023, the leader of the Quynh Luu District People's Committee stated that, "In Mr. Dinh's case, when reclaiming the land, the An Hoa Commune People's Committee did not follow the procedures to submit to the competent authority to issue a land reclamation decision, so there was no basis for compensation in the form of land. Therefore, the proposal of the An Hoa Commune People's Committee has no basis for implementation".

Mr. Dinh at the citizen reception session of the Provincial People's Committee Chairman.

Mr. Ho Anh Dung - Chairman of the People's Committee of An Hoa commune, admitted that the land exchange process between the People's Committee of the commune and Mr. Dinh in 2017 was not in accordance with the order, procedures, and instructions of the law. The People's Committee of the commune assigned responsibility to Mr. Vo Ngoc Hung to dismantle and then reclaim Mr. Dinh's land plot without the approval documents of the People's Committee of Quynh Luu district, which was against the provisions of the Land Law. Because the authority to reclaim and allocate land belongs to the Chairman of the People's Committee of the district. "Therefore, after completing the site clearance, from 2017 until now, the People's Committee of the commune has not had enough legal basis to carry out the planning and hand over the new residential land location to Mr. Dinh to ensure the rights of this household," Mr. Dung said, claiming that the case was beyond the authority of the commune to handle.

Not being resolved by the Quynh Luu district authorities, Mr. Tran Ba ​​Dinh then continued to complain to the Provincial People's Committee. He was received by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung at the regular citizen reception session in August 2023. After listening to the citizen's presentation and the opinions of relevant departments, branches and units, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assessed that the purpose of the commune in reclaiming Mr. Dinh's land to expand the kindergarten campus was good, meeting the people's aspirations. However, the commune's actions were not within its authority, not in accordance with legal regulations, affecting the citizens' land use rights that have been recognized by the state. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested An Hoa commune to seriously learn from experience; Quynh Luu district People's Committee to review and clarify the responsibilities of related individuals and organizations.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assigned the People's Committee of Quynh Luu district to study the plan to handle the compensation and resettlement of the land area that was illegally recovered for Mr. Tran Ba ​​Dinh. Determine a suitable land location to arrange resettlement for the people or compensate in cash in case the citizens and the government reach an agreement. Request that before September 15, 2023, Quynh Luu district must report the handling plan to the Provincial People's Reception Council and notify the citizens; before December 31, 2023, the case must be completely resolved.

However, it has been 10 months since the latest deadline assigned by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, but Quynh Luu district has not yet completely resolved this case.

Meanwhile, at the citizen reception session of the Provincial People's Committee Chairman more than a year ago, Mr. Hoang Van Bo - Chairman of the Quynh Luu District People's Committee said that if the people and the commune could not agree on the compensation amount, the district would direct the commune to establish an investment project to continue expanding the kindergarten campus, carry out land recovery and compensate the people according to regulations...

Discussing the delay in handling, Mr. Hoang Van Bo said that there were some problems. “If the district is slow in handling, the district will be responsible,” the head of the Quynh Luu District People’s Committee said briefly.

The incident originated from the local government’s violations, but many years have passed and the people have yet to claim their legitimate rights. Meanwhile, no one who committed the violations has been disciplined.

Regarding this incident, the representative of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that through checking and reviewing the records of Mr. Dinh's petition, it was found that the case had not been resolved by the People's Committee of Quynh Luu district according to the prescribed authority. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment proposed that, in case there is a basis for land recovery to expand the school gate according to the provisions of Article 62 of the 2013 Land Law, an investment project should be established and the land plot should be recovered according to the provisions of the 2013 Land Law (issue a decision on land recovery, develop a plan, compensate, support and resettle Mr. Tran Ba ​​Dinh's family); in which it is necessary to determine the value of assets on the demolished land of Mr. Tran Ba ​​Dinh's family for compensation according to regulations.

In case there is no basis for land recovery, the An Hoa Commune People's Committee shall be directed to return the recovered land area. At the same time, determine the value of the property on the land that has been demolished of Mr. Dinh's family for compensation according to regulations.

Source: Nghe An Newspaper

Source: https://baophutho.vn/lam-an-o-xa-ve-nguoi-dan-ong-nghe-an-bong-dung-mat-nha-mat-luon-ca-dat-220275.htm