No resemblance, only empty land
Ca Mau Provincial Inspectorate has just issued a thematic inspection conclusion for difficult, problematic, and prolonged projects in the province. In which, the High Quality Forest Seed Production Center Project invested by Doc Lap Trading Import-Export Co., Ltd. was determined to not implement the approved objectives even though land was allocated in 2009.
According to investment documents, on July 22, 2009, Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee issued an Investment Certificate to Doc Lap Trading Import-Export Co., Ltd. to implement a project in the Khanh An resettlement area, now belonging to Khanh An commune.
The project has an area of 10ha, with a total investment of more than 4.24 billion VND, with the goal of producing 4 million high-quality forestry seedlings each year. According to the registered progress, the project started in June 2009 and must be completed and put into operation from March 2010.
To implement the project, on June 19, 2009, the Provincial People's Committee decided to lease more than 100,000m2 of land to the enterprise for a term of 30 years. In October 2009, the enterprise was granted a certificate of land use rights for the entire project area.
However, the actual verification results of the Inspection Team in May 2026 showed that the project did not achieve the committed investment objectives. There is no production of forest seedlings or any activities related to the project at the allocated land.
According to the inspection conclusion, after being allocated land, the enterprise only planted some types of trees for the first few years and then stopped operating. Since then, the project has not continued to implement the items according to the investment certificate.
Thus, from the time the project had to be put into operation in March 2010 to the time of actual inspection and examination in May 2026, the project has been behind schedule for nearly 17 years but still has not completed the target.
Abandoned land, businesses lose contact
Records at the scene show that most of the allocated land area is in a state of abandonment. On the land, there are only a few fruit trees, mainly bananas, along with a temporary house and some degraded works. Many areas are overgrown with weeds.
Notably, local authorities and functional agencies could not contact Doc Lap Trading Import-Export Co., Ltd. The enterprise no longer operates at the registered address, has no office or operating apparatus in the project area.
According to information from the tax authorities, the business has stopped operating at the registered address since February 21, 2014.
In addition to not implementing the project according to the investment certificate, the enterprise also violated financial obligations regarding land. According to the Ca Mau Provincial Tax Department, as of November 28, 2024, Doc Lap Trading Import-Export Co., Ltd. still owed more than 246 million VND in land rent.
The Provincial Inspectorate determined that the enterprise did not put the land into use according to investment objectives; left the land fallow for a long time; did not fully fulfill financial obligations to the State; and did not cooperate in the inspection and examination process.
The inspection conclusion also pointed out limitations in state management of projects that have lasted for many years but have not been thoroughly resolved.
From the detected violations, the Provincial Inspectorate proposed that the Chairman of Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee direct the Department of Agriculture and Environment to carry out procedures to recover the land area leased to Doc Lap Import-Export Trading Co., Ltd. in accordance with legal regulations; the Department of Finance is assigned to advise on handling investment projects according to regulations; Ca Mau Tax continues to apply measures to recover outstanding land rent debts of enterprises.
