More serious violations
On December 19, the Government Inspector General issued the Inspection Conclusion on state management of irrigation, dykes and natural disaster prevention and control at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Notably in this conclusion, regarding the protection and use of dikes, according to the assessment of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the number of violations of the law on dikes tends to decrease, however, the level and scale of violations are more serious.
Prevention and handling of violations are still limited, leading to a large number of outstanding violations.
The main cause is that many organizations and individuals brazenly encroach on the dike roof and dike corridor, build works, houses, factories, tents, and gather and transfer materials on the riverbank.
Some organizations and individuals were assigned or leased land and granted construction permits but used the land for the wrong purpose or violated the licensed content.
Local authorities in some places have not clearly seen the responsibility and importance of dike management, have loosened management; have not resolutely and responsibly implemented measures to prevent and thoroughly handle violations; the allocation, leasing of land, licensing of related activities in riverbank and dike areas and management work are not strict...
The current situation of constructions and houses located within the dike protection corridor is common in many localities, most of which have existed for a long time. The number of constructions and houses is large, and local budgets are limited, so relocating existing constructions and houses within the dike protection area is difficult.
Some provinces did not implement the opinions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in approving project investment; loosened dike management; when violations were discovered, they were not handled resolutely and thoroughly, leading to projects still being implemented and existing; there are still 1,015 outstanding cases of handling violations.
Not strict and not decisive
Among the violations, the Inspectorate pointed out a number of cases in Hanoi and Thai Binh.
In Thai Binh, there were 2 cases (the project to build a non-fired brick factory of Thanh An Infrastructure Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, land use area of 18,834.3 m2, illegal construction of the factory in the riverbank area and the violation of the Business Household of Mr. Pham Van Phong, land use area of 10,398 m2, illegal trading of materials in the riverbank area, both violated Article 7 of the 2006 Law on Dikes, the authorities inspected and handled administrative violations of dikes 9 times and 13 times respectively (not including administrative sanctions by the police at all levels) but have not considered and handled according to the provisions of the 2013 Land Law.
In Hanoi, Hong Ha Machinery Manufacturing Joint Stock Company built 15 factories, with an area of about 16,000m2 and 1 operating house, with an area of 350m2 located in the flood escape corridor, violating the provisions of Article 7 of the 2006 Law on Dykes.
Sao Nam Song Hong Company and Bao Linh Ornamental Plants Joint Stock Company violated the prohibited acts stipulated in Article 7 of the Law on Dikes and Article 12 of the Law on Land and were directed by Hanoi authorities to handle the violations 12 times and 9 times respectively, but were not thoroughly resolved, so the violations still exist today.
During the period from 2018 to 2023, the Hanoi People's Committee granted licenses to 11 companies to invest in the construction of 25 concrete mixing stations on the Red River bank, not in accordance with regulations.
These 11 companies include: Khuyen Luong Port Joint Stock Company, Phu Nguyen Construction Investment Joint Stock Company, Red River Transport Company Limited, Duc Manh Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company, Hong Ha Port Joint Stock Company, Nam Thang Long Trading Joint Stock Company, Bach Khoa Trading and Construction Joint Stock Company, Port Construction and Exploitation Investment Joint Stock Company, Ha Trang Materials Trading and Transportation Company Limited, Nam Son Company Limited, THM-CONCRETE Production and Trading Joint Stock Company.
"The People's Committees of Hanoi and Thai Binh Province discovered violations but did not handle them strictly or thoroughly, violating the provisions of Point h, Clause 1, Article 43 of the 2006 Law on Dykes; did not strictly implement the Prime Minister's direction in Directive No. 24/CT-TTg dated October 7, 2019 on strengthening the handling of violations of the law on dykes for the above violations, affecting flood escape space" - The inspection conclusion stated.
