Claiming compensation of hundreds of billions of dong when land is confiscated
On December 25, speaking with Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. To Hieu Trung - Chairman of Vinh Thanh District People's Committee (Binh Dinh) - said that he had directed the Working Group to verify and inventory assets and construction works on the land area that was revoked due to illegal local grants, for cases of relatives of former district leaders.
Asset inventory is carried out after people whose land and land use right certificates (red books) have been recovered file complaints and requests for compensation for construction costs on the recovered land.
That is the case of Ms. Vo Thi Anh Nhan (wife of former Chairman of the District People's Committee Tran Cong Sy) and Mr. Nguyen Chi Tranh (nephew of former Secretary of the District Party Committee Nguyen Dinh Kim).
After Vinh Thanh district decided to reclaim the nearly 0.8 hectare land and requested to stop all activities, Ms. Nhan authorized someone else to work with the local authorities, and has not yet returned the red book or handed over the land. The person authorized by Ms. Nhan requested compensation of 9.5 billion VND when carrying out the land reclamation.
For Mr. Tranh, Vinh Thanh district has decided to reclaim the land and request to stop operations on an area of more than 10 hectares. However, Mr. Tranh has not returned the red book, has not handed over the land to the State, and has also requested compensation of 168.7 billion VND.
According to Mr. To Hieu Trung, since the inspection conclusion (March 2023), the locality has issued a decision to reclaim leased land and red books issued in violation of regulations, but so far only the family of former District Party Secretary Nguyen Dinh Kim has returned more than 138 hectares of protective forest land, while Mr. Tranh and Ms. Nhan have not yet agreed to return the land.
"In case the State grants land in violation of regulations, but the land user builds a project according to the approved planning and has a construction permit, the State will have to inspect and calculate the value of the property for compensation.
In case of construction outside the approved planning, construction items without permits will not be compensated. Whoever grants the wrong permit will be held responsible before the law," said Mr. To Hieu Trung.
Twice taken to court
According to Mr. Tranh's report to Vinh Thanh district, the compensation amount of 168.7 billion VND is the cost that Mr. Tranh invested in building the Vinh Thanh hot spring resort project.
Of which, opportunity cost is 50 billion VND, marketing is 20 billion VND, management and unemployment costs are 20 billion VND and many other expenses.
Regarding the compensation costs that Mr. Tranh requested, Mr. To Hieu Trung said: "The two parties must sit down to determine the compensation value. If the list is "out of this world", where will the State get the money to compensate? If Mr. Tranh still does not agree, an independent auditing unit must be hired to determine the assets and resolve them according to regulations."
Mr. To Hieu Trung also said that when the land allocation was discovered to be illegal, the State took back Mr. Tranh's land, and then Mr. Tranh filed a lawsuit in the first-instance and high-level courts in Da Nang. After the trial, the court ruled that the district's land reclamation was in accordance with regulations.
Since the decision to revoke the land took effect, Mr. Tranh and Ms. Nhan have continued to do business and have not yet returned the land to local authorities for management.
"The district has also sent a document requesting the Department of Industry and Trade to request Phu Phong Electricity and Vinh Thanh General Joint Stock Company to cut off electricity to the above cases. Because the project is built on land that has been reclaimed by the State, if it is still operating, it is a violation," said Mr. To Hieu Trung.
As reported by Lao Dong Newspaper, in order to be allocated protective forest land, Mr. Kim wrote his own application, forged signatures, and helped prepare land allocation documents for three households and a relative.
Mr. Kim has been prosecuted for investigation of the crime of Abusing position and power to influence others for personal gain.
Previously, the Inspectorate of Binh Dinh province requested the Chairman of Vinh Thanh District People's Committee to reclaim nearly 0.8 hectares of land illegally leased to Ms. Nhan (Mr. Sy's wife - former Chairman of Vinh Thanh District People's Committee). At the same time, reclaim more than 10 hectares of land illegally leased to Mr. Tranh (Mr. Kim's nephew - former Secretary of Vinh Thanh District Party Committee).
