On the afternoon of February 18, speaking with Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Le Dinh Chien, Vice Chairman of Ea Kar District People's Committee confirmed that there was a case of people in resettlement area No. 2 destroying and encroaching on forest land for planting. The district's authorities are still monitoring and requesting forest owners to completely handle this situation.
Breaking forests, illegally encroaching on land
Statistics from Ea Kar Forestry One Member Co., Ltd. (Ea Kar Forestry Company) show that in 2024, the unit discovered 34 cases of deforestation and 35 cases of encroachment on forest land for planting and construction of works on forestry land.
Also during this period, Ea Kar Forestry Company damaged more than 10 hectares of forest.
Most of the violations occurred in Cu Bong commune, bordering Cu Elang commune. This area has resettlement area No. 2, part of the Krong Pac Thuong irrigation project, where nearly 300 households are living.
Resettlement area No. 2 is invested by the Dak Lak Province Traffic Construction Investment and Rural Development Project Management Board (Board A).
Mr. Nong Van Uy, an employee of Ea Kar Forestry Company, shared: "I was assigned to manage a part of the forest area in Cu Bong commune. Recently, a part of the people in resettlement area No. 2 have arbitrarily deforested and encroached on land to farm.
The authorities had to work very hard to control the situation. Although the number of recent violations has decreased, it has not been completely resolved".
Still complicated
At the end of 2024, the Dak Lak Provincial People's Council issued a Resolution to dissolve villages 9, 10, and 11 in Cu San commune, M'Drak district (location of the upper Krong Pac lake). After that, the authorities established Tan Thanh village, in Cu Bong commune, Ea Kar district.
The new village consists of 306 households with 1,550 people and most of them are people subject to compensation and site clearance for the Krong Pac Thuong irrigation project (M'Drak district).
Since the establishment of Tan Thanh village, people have begun to stabilize their lives and develop the economy. However, some people without Arable land encroached on forest land for cultivation, causing many difficulties for the authorities.
Mr. Nguyen Phi Tien, Director of Ea Kar Forestry Company, said that in resettlement area No. 2, there is still not enough land for people in the area of upstream Krong Pac lake to move to. This has led to the situation of people destroying forests and encroaching on forest land for farming to make a living.
"On the forestry unit's management unit, forest bandits are increasingly sophisticated, reckless, and threatening the authorities," Mr. Tien shared.
"The investor of resettlement area No. 2 has not yet handed over enough land for cultivation to the people, still lacking about 100 hectares. For this area, the investor is clearing the land," Mr. Le Dinh Chien, Vice Chairman of Ea Kar District People's Committee shared more.
Faced with the above situation, the People's Committee of Ea Kar district has requested the police to establish a special project to fight and promptly detect organizations and individuals who are destroying forests to prosecute criminal liability. From there, it will be brought to trial publicly soon, in order to deter the community living next to the forest.
The Krong Pac Thuong reservoir irrigation project has a total investment of more than VND 4,400 billion from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as the investor and construction in Dak Lak province. The project has 2 components: construction and compensation, site clearance, relocation and resettlement.
In particular, the compensation, site clearance, and relocation of resettlement arrangements are invested by Board A.
