On June 4, Thien Thuat Commune People's Committee said that it had issued a decision to sanction administrative violations in the field of land for Mr. Luc Van Dong (born 1966, residing in Pac Khuong village) for the act of destroying agricultural land.
According to the penalty decision, through inspection in the Coc Sha area, Pac Khuong village, functional agencies determined that Mr. Dong had committed many acts that changed the current status of land use on a large area.
Mr. Dong distorted the terrain, changed the slope of the ground surface at part of land plots No. 375 and 399, map sheet No. 256 with a total area of 3,308.6m2.
This person also degraded the land quality on an area of 4,647.6m2 belonging to land plots No. 31, 34 (map sheet No. 178) and plots 399, 407 (map sheet No. 256).
The violation is determined to be changing the surface layer of agricultural production land with materials other than the current state of the land being used.
Based on the regulations on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of land, the People's Committee of Thien Thuat commune decided to fine Mr. Luc Van Dong a total amount of 85 million VND.
In which, the act of deforming the terrain was fined 55 million VND; the act of reducing soil quality was fined 30 million VND.
Functional agencies said that during the working process, Mr. Dong actively cooperated, provided information and honestly declared, so it is considered to apply mitigating circumstances according to the provisions of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.
Notably, based on the current regulations of Lang Son province on handling acts of land destruction, this case is not subject to the measure of forcing the restoration of the original state of the land before the violation.
Previously, Lao Dong Newspaper had an article "Arbitrarily leveling, subdividing, and selling agricultural land plots in the highlands of Lang Son" reflecting the situation of leveling agricultural and forestry land in the Coc Sha area, Pac Khuong village, Thien Thuat commune.
Implementing the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Lang Son province has coordinated with relevant units to inspect the land area managed and used by Mr. Luc Van Dong.
Verification results show that the affected area has an area of about 5,300m2. Of which, more than 2,100m2 was leveled, changing the natural slope, and over 3,200m2 was filled with soil to raise the ground.
According to functional agencies, leveling activities have been carried out for many years, from 2017 to now and will continue to take place in early May 2026.
The entire process was not permitted by competent authorities, and there were no dossiers requesting land improvement, land use purpose conversion or related procedures submitted in the locality.
Notably, specialized agencies determined that the act of arbitrarily leveling production forest land, distorting terrain and affecting soil quality belongs to the act of land destruction according to the provisions of the 2024 Land Law.
This is a prohibited act and must be handled according to regulations on administrative sanctions in the field of land.
