On the morning of July 30, at the Government Headquarters, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung chaired a meeting to resolve issues related to land recovery of Vietnam Paper Corporation in Phu Tho province.
Vice Chairman of Phu Tho Provincial People's Committee Phan Trong Tan said that Vietnam Paper Corporation and affiliated agricultural and forestry farms are currently assigned to manage about 17,000 hectares of land in the province. However, in reality, only more than 12,000 hectares are managed, and 4,098 hectares have been encroached upon by people, and agricultural and forestry farms no longer have the ability to manage.
Therefore, Vietnam Paper Corporation proposed to hand over this area to localities for management, organization of measurement, identification of origin, ownership and completion of procedures according to regulations for the area people are using.
However, in the area managed by the Corporation, there are still 3,028 hectares of inefficiently used land, continuing to arise encroachment.
According to Mr. Phan Trong Tan, to solve the problems, Phu Tho Provincial People's Committee has worked many times with Vietnam Paper Corporation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and central ministries and branches, and at the same time reported to the Prime Minister. On that basis, the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers issued many notices of conclusions directing handling.
Implementing the directions of the Prime Minister and based on the opinions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Ministry of Finance, Phu Tho Provincial People's Committee has approved the land use plan of Vietnam Paper Corporation before equitization.
According to this plan, the enterprise handed over 7,140 hectares to the locality, including 3,028 hectares voluntarily returned and 4,098 hectares managed and used by people.
However, problems arise because the time of land recovery still has to be implemented according to the provisions of Decree No. 167/2017/ND-CP dated December 31, 2017 of the Government stipulating the rearrangement and handling of public assets, requiring the completion of asset arrangement before land handling.
The province's issuance of the decision to revoke earlier than the time the Government's Decree No. 67/2021/ND-CP dated July 15, 2021 on amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 167/2017/ND-CP took effect led to incorrect order and procedures. The Provincial People's Committee takes responsibility for this limitation.
The obstacle of not completing official management procedures for 3,028 hectares has caused many socio-economic development plans, industrial park planning and land allocation to people, especially ethnic minorities, to not be implemented; and at the same time, the situation of land encroachment continues to arise.
Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung emphasized that the case related to the land acquisition of Vietnam Paper Corporation has lasted for about 10 years and needs to be resolved definitively soon.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that the Prime Minister has also directed to definitively handle existing problems and obstacles, not to let them continue to be prolonged, affecting the efficiency of land management and use and the socio-economic development process of the locality.
Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung emphasized that the process of handling problems in localities arises due to overlap and inconsistency between the provisions of the law on land and the law on management and use of public assets. Therefore, the handling needs to ensure the correct order and procedures according to current legal regulations.
To definitively remove obstacles, the Deputy Prime Minister agreed in principle to assign the Phu Tho Provincial People's Committee to re-implement procedures according to current regulations.
Accordingly, Phu Tho province needs to revoke the land decisions issued previously to complete the process of land recovery, allocation and management in accordance with current legal regulations.
The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Phu Tho Provincial People's Committee to urgently implement necessary procedures, ensuring the management and use of land funds for the right purpose, in accordance with planning, in accordance with legal regulations, promoting the effectiveness of land resources, meeting the socio-economic development requirements of the locality.
