For many years, tens of thousands of square meters of agricultural land and project planning land in Tan Trieu area, Thanh Liet ward, Hanoi have been occupied, surrounded by corrugated iron, and used for the wrong purpose as restaurants, factories, warehouses, and sports fields... but have not been completely handled, causing people to be upset and question the responsibility of the local government.
Violations lasted nearly a decade
Recorded in reality, in the area of lane 300 Nguyen Xien Street extending to 25m road and General Department 5 area, Pham Tu... a series of agricultural land areas, project planning land "grow" into temporary works, restaurants, factories close together like a service complex. Surrounded by businesses, inside are bustling businesses: garages, mini soccer fields, restaurants, warehouses, etc.
Local people reported that in addition to agricultural land, a part of the occupied area belongs to the urban planning.
Tay Nam Kim Giang I - the project has been "suspended" for more than 10 years. While the project has not been implemented, the situation of encroachment and use of land for the wrong purpose has been going on openly, lasting for many years without being completely prevented.
According to research, the cause of this situation comes from the fact that agricultural land is no longer available for cultivation. The ditch and irrigation system here has been eliminated when the area has become heavily urbanized, making it impossible for rice fields to be cultivated. Many households that have been allocated agricultural land for lease have to build warehouses and factories to generate revenue.
In Trieu Khuc village - a long-standing traditional craft village, the urbanization process has caused the production land to narrow rapidly. Population growth, more and more immigrants renting houses and buying land for living, causing increased infrastructure pressure. In the context of no more land for production, people using or leasing agricultural land for other purposes has become popular.
It is worth mentioning that this situation is not new. There are factory areas that have "grown up" for nearly 10 years, operating vigorously, without permission, but still exist.
Public opinion questions: Is the policy mechanism in land management still loose and not enough to deter? Or is there a situation of lax management, even ignoring and assisting violations?
According to the 2024 Land Law, land users are responsible for using land for the assigned purpose. Arbitrarily converting the purpose of using agricultural land to non-agricultural land, building works and houses without permission is a violation of the law.
Strictly handle violations
In an interview with Lao Dong Newspaper, lawyer Hoang Tung - Trung Hoa Law Office (Hanoi Bar Association) - cited Article 241 of the 2024 Land Law: "Chairmen of People's Committees at all levels are responsible for regularly inspecting, detecting, preventing and promptly handling acts of encroachment, land occupation; land use for purposes other than those; illegal construction...".
The lawyer also noted that if the violation persists for a long time without being handled, without enforcement measures or showing signs of cover-up, ignorance, or assistance, the related cadres and civil servants may be subject to disciplinary action, dismissal, or even criminal prosecution under Article 360 (Crime of "Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences") or Article 356 of the Penal Code (Crime of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties".
When the old violations are not handled, to create new violations, it will create a bad precedent, leading to conflicts and unfairness in administrative handling.
Therefore, determining and handling the responsibility of the head is a must to tighten discipline in land management and construction order. The mechanism for evaluating and classifying cadres needs to be linked to the results of handling actual violations, not leaving them "hot at the bottom, cold at the top".
On July 28, speaking with Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Bui Huy Hoang - Chairman of Thanh Liet Ward People's Committee - said that Thanh Liet Ward is reviewing, collecting statistics, classifying records received from the old Tan Trieu Commune and developing a roadmap for settlement. Especially not to let new violations arise, the view is to resolutely handle newly arising violations.
Currently, the government has controlled new construction cases, construction cases during the transition period, the Ward People's Committee will direct the cutting of electricity and water.
"Illegal construction on agricultural land in Tan Trieu has existed for many years, so in the immediate future, people are encouraged to demolish it themselves, and then the illegal constructions will be demolished," said Mr. Hoang.
From August 1, 2024, Vietnam will officially implement land inventory nationwide. Recently, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has sent a document to the People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities, requesting the completion and submission of land inventory results to the Ministry before August 20, 2025.
The inventory results are an important basis for serving state management of land, while meeting the requirements of socio-economic development in the next phase.
