Lam Dong: Latest developments in the "zero compensation" land case at Son My I Industrial Park.

Son My I Industrial Park - Ham Tan 1 — The Lam Dong Provincial People's Court will announce its verdict on October 27th in the lawsuit filed by Dai Thuan Phat Company regarding the "zero compensation" claim for land at Son My I Industrial Park.

The People's Court of Lam Dong province has opened a trial session for the case of "Complaint against administrative decisions on compensation, support, and resettlement when land is reclaimed" that occurred at the Son My I Industrial Park Project.

According to the documents, Dai Thuan Phat Trading Company Limited (Dai Thuan Phat Company) filed a lawsuit, requesting the People's Court to annul Decision No. 509/QD-UBND dated March 20, 2025, of the People's Committee of Ham Tan District regarding the approval of the compensation, support, and resettlement plan for the implementation of the Son My I Industrial Park Project. The lawsuit also requested that the People's Committee of Ham Tan District and the People's Committee of Binh Thuan Province (formerly) be compelled to properly perform their duties and responsibilities in accordance with the law.

Specifically: The organization will review and recalculate the entire compensation and resettlement plan for Dai Thuan Phat Company; ensuring full compliance with the provisions of the 2024 Land Law, Decree No. 88/2024/ND-CP and related documents, and guaranteeing the legitimate rights and interests of the enterprise during the compensation and resettlement process when its land is reclaimed.

*The aquaculture ponds were invested in many years ago on the land owned by Dai Thuan Phat Company. Photo: Thac Hieu*

Before bringing the case to trial, the Lam Dong Provincial People's Court followed the prescribed procedures. Specifically, on July 25th, the Lam Dong Provincial People's Court presided over a dialogue session to allow the parties involved to reach an agreement on resolving the case. However, the mediation was unsuccessful as all participating parties maintained their original positions.

Subsequently, on July 29, 2025, the Lam Dong Provincial People's Court conducted an "on-site inspection and assessment." On September 16, the Lam Dong Provincial People's Court continued to hold a dialogue. However, the defendant and those with related rights and obligations were absent.

The Lam Dong Provincial People's Court had scheduled the trial for September 22nd. However, the trial has been postponed and rescheduled for October 17th.

*The compensation and support decision issued by the Ham Tan District People's Committee indicates that the land compensation amount for Dai Thuan Phat Company is 0 VND. Photo: Quang Phuong*

At the court hearing on October 17th, the legal aspects and responsibilities of the parties involved in the issuance of Decision No. 509/QD-UBND dated March 20, 2025, by the former Ham Tan District People's Committee were clarified.

The business side presented its request that the Trial Council fully consider all legal grounds to deliver a fair and objective judgment, ensuring the accuracy and completeness of all investments the business had made on the land before the land revocation decision.

At the court hearing, based on legal grounds and relevant documents, the representative of the People's Procuracy of Lam Dong province recommended annulling Decision No. 509/QD-UBND dated March 20, 2025, of the former Ham Tan District People's Committee; and accepting the lawsuit filed by Dai Thuan Phat Company.

The panel of judges noted that the case involved many complex details, therefore the deliberation period would be extended. The verdict is scheduled to be announced at 8:00 AM on October 27th.

*A generator at Dai Thuan Phat Company's premises has been rusted for many years. Photo: Quang Phuong*

According to the case file, Dai Thuan Phat Company owns two projects in Son My commune, Ham Tan district (now Son My commune, Lam Dong province) with a total land area of over 86,200m2 (land allocated by Binh Thuan province in 2004 and 2005). Both projects have a land lease term of 49 years.

Of the allocated land area, only a portion is undeveloped. In the ecological reforestation project, over 1,200 square meters of land are managed and used by households and individuals. Dai Thuan Phat Company must negotiate, acquire, and compensate for this land area. Furthermore, to ensure continuity in the shrimp farming project and avoid fragmentation of the production area, the company also independently negotiated compensation and acquired land from residents both within and outside the project boundaries, totaling 13,000 square meters. This brings the total project area to 24,506 square meters.

The total actual land area that Dai Thuan Phat Company has been managing and using at the two projects is currently over 99,264 m2.

A well-invested aquaculture pond on the land of Dai Thuan Phat Company is currently abandoned and deteriorating. Photo: Quang Phuong — *A fish farm on the land owned by Dai Thuan Phat Company was well-invested but is currently abandoned and deteriorating. Photo: Quang Phuong*

In December 2011, the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province issued a decision to reclaim over 100,800 square meters of land leased by Dai Thuan Phat Company for the implementation of the Son My I Industrial Park Project.

Dai Thuan Phat Company stated that it wasn't until March 20, 2025, that the Ham Tan District People's Committee issued Decision No. 509/QD-UBND approving the compensation and resettlement plan for the company. Accordingly, the total compensation and support for the company was 286 million VND, including: over 271 million VND for property compensation and 15 million VND for property relocation costs. Notably, the decision stipulated 0 VND for the compensation for over 87,500 m2 (over 8.7 hectares) of aquaculture land that was reclaimed, and 0 VND for the remaining "investment costs in the land".

Dai Thuan Phat Company disagrees with the compensation amount because, in addition to the allocated land, the company also transferred 13,000 square meters of land from local residents. The company argues that zero compensation for the land is unreasonable. Furthermore, the company is not being compensated for the significant investment costs incurred; the land reclamation has terminated its business operations, and it has not been provided with alternative production land… yet it has not received any compensation or support, which is contrary to regulations.

The decision approving the compensation and resettlement plan was not based on the land expropriation decision issued by the Provincial People's Committee in 2011. Notably, the area of land compensated is smaller than the area of land that the Provincial People's Committee decided to expropriate and smaller than the actual area the company is managing and using.

Dai Thuan Phat Company argues that, based on the unit prices issued by the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province in Decision No. 37/2019/QD-UBND dated December 20, 2019 and Decision No. 09/2022/QD-UBND dated March 18, 2022 of the People's Committee of the province, the amount of compensation that Dai Thuan Phat Company is entitled to amounts to more than 28 billion VND.

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