On November 13, a source from Lao Dong Newspaper confirmed that the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quang Tri province had submitted a proposal to the Provincial People's Committee on handling joint venture contracts for production forest planting at protective forest management boards.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the province proposed that the Provincial People's Committee seek opinions from the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council to agree to let the Ben Hai River Basin Protection Forest Management Board organize the exploitation of more than 600 hectares of joint venture forests in 2016 and 2018. After exploiting the planted forests in the above area, the contract with the joint venture forest planting parties will be terminated.
Funds collected from exploiting more than 600 hectares of planted forests will be used in accordance with regulations. Next, a new joint venture project will be developed to cooperate in planting production forests and submit it to competent authorities for approval.
For more than 300 hectares of joint venture forests in the Thach Han River Basin Protection Forest Management Board planted in 2020, because the forest trees are not yet old enough to be exploited, it is proposed to continue maintaining the contract with the joint venture parties. By the end of 2025, early 2026, trees on the land will be exploited and the joint venture contract will be terminated.
Regarding the joint venture and association to plant forests on an area of nearly 1,000 hectares of forest land in the Ben Hai River Basin Protection Forest Management Board and the Thach Han River Basin Protection Forest Management Board, Lao Dong Newspaper reported through the article "Nearly 1,000 hectares of forest land planted in illegal joint venture in Quang Tri". According to the signed contract, the two forest management boards above have assigned forest land to enterprises to reclaim, open roads and plant trees. The cost is paid by the enterprise, when exploitation is completed, the profit will be divided according to the ratio of 70% for the enterprise, 30% for the forest management board and the enterprise is allowed to plant trees on the land for 3 cycles.
In October 2023, the Standing Committee of the People's Council of Quang Tri province supervised and discovered that the joint venture and association for forest planting at the two forest management boards violated regulations. According to Decree 151/2017/ND-CP on management and use of public assets, the use of forest land for the above joint venture and association for forest planting must have a one-time land lease contract. In addition, the funding for implementation is not taken from the state budget and the implementing unit is a self-governing public service unit with regular expenditures.
