Slow determination of land prices, dossiers lasting nearly 1,000 days
On May 29, the Inspectorate of Ca Mau province officially announced Inspection Conclusion No. 16/KL-TT on advising, managing and determining specific land prices at the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Bac Lieu province (old).
According to the inspection conclusion, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Bac Lieu province (old) had many shortcomings and prolonged delays through many stages.
Notably, the advice on issuing the 2023 land valuation plan was delayed by 256 days compared to regulations. This prolongation has caused the entire process of determining land lease prices for 2 land plots in Ward 3, Bac Lieu city (old), now Bac Lieu ward, Ca Mau province to fall into a state of stagnation.
According to the inspection conclusion, the implementation time from the step of determining the value of the land plot to submitting the first land price plan to the Appraisal Council exceeded regulations by 482 - 514 days. By the second appraisal stage, the total delay time was up to 918 - 997 days.
The Inspectorate assessed that prolonging procedures for too long not only causes difficulties for investment activities but also makes the determination of financial obligations complicated when land policies and laws change over time.
In addition, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Bac Lieu province (old) was also identified as advising the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province (old) to issue land lease decisions when there was no annual land use plan and specific land valuation plan approved.
Specifically, the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province (old) issued Decision No. 96/QD-UBND dated February 24, 2023, Decision No. 140/QD-UBND dated April 12, 2023 when the related procedures were not completed.
Proposing to clarify the responsibility of the former Deputy Director of the Department
Ca Mau Provincial Inspectorate determined that the slow determination of land prices has led to a very high risk of budget losses due to changes in the method of calculating land prices according to new regulations.
For the first land plot, the initial plan of the consulting unit determined financial obligations of more than 80.7 billion VND. However, if applied according to current regulations in Decree No. 71/2024/ND-CP, the amount is about 32.7 billion VND, a difference of nearly 48 billion VND.
Similarly, the second land plot also in Ward 3, Bac Lieu city, now Bac Lieu ward, Ca Mau province leased with an initial plan of more than 330.6 billion VND, but according to the current calculation method, it is still about 267.1 billion VND, a decrease of more than 63.5 billion VND.
The total difference of the two land plots is up to more than 111.5 billion VND.
According to the inspection conclusion, the subjective cause of the violations stemmed from the leadership of the Bac Lieu Department of Natural Resources and Environment (old) lacking decisiveness in direction and administration; unclear assignment of tasks, and loose internal coordination.
In which, former Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Le Van Phuong - who is directly in charge of the land sector - was identified as responsible for allowing the dossier to be prolonged for many years but not handled thoroughly. Currently, Mr. Phuong is Chairman of Vinh Trach Ward People's Committee, Ca Mau province.
The Inspectorate pointed out that although the Standing Committee of Bac Lieu Provincial People's Committee (old) had written instructions on the land price determination plan, the Sub-Department of Land Management still maintained the old professional viewpoint. The inconsistency between the Sub-Department of Land Management and Mr. Le Van Phuong was not brought up for collective discussion according to regulations, causing the dossier to be lengthened, "kick back and forth", causing waste of time.
The inspection agency also determined that the management of dossiers was not strict when handing over documents to the consulting unit, but no minutes were made, leading to no basis for handling responsibility when the consulting unit was slow to hand over the valuation certificate.
Ca Mau Provincial Inspectorate determined that the case showed signs of irresponsibility in the leadership, direction and urging of the performance of tasks of the Board of Directors of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Bac Lieu province (old), including the responsibility of former Director Nguyen Binh Thuan and former Deputy Director Le Van Phuong.
By the time of inspection, both land plots had not yet fulfilled their financial obligations to the State. The Provincial People's Committee had to direct specialized agencies to summarize difficulties and obstacles to request guidance from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.
The Provincial Inspectorate proposed to organize a review of responsibilities for relevant collectives and individuals; and at the same time requested to review and complete the land price determination plan to fully recover financial obligations and avoid loss of state budget.
