Hanoi (VNA) - The management of land areaspreviously allocated to the State-run agriculture and forestry farms needsreviewing to avoid disputes and losses for the State, according to experts.
The land is currently used by agriculture companies, forestrycompanies, forest management units and other organisations, households andindividuals.
In fact, a number of shortcomings have been exposed in themanagement and use of the land, such as in the implementation of procedures forlease, determination of land prices and collection of land use levy, andgranting certificates of land-use rights and changing the land use purposes.
According to a report by the Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Environment, more than 60 percent of the State-owned agricultural andforest farms that had switched to company models did not follow procedures ofland transfer with payment or land lease as per regulations in the Law of Land2003.
These farms owned 88 percent of total land allocated to theState agricultural and forest farms nation-wide, the report said.
Many farms had not closely monitored the land use aftertransfer to companies or individuals so many areas of land were illegallyconverted to civil uses such as housing or service facilities, or even sold forhigh profits.
A typical case is twenty-seven constructions that wereillegally built on forest land in Hanoi’s Soc Son district over the past twoyears. The work includes houses, villas and even an eco-tourism area with aswimming pool, stilt houses and concrete roads.
The main reason originated from a wrong perception that thefarms were owned by the State and the managers were State-paid servants so landtransfer did not need supervising and monitoring.
Many farms did not have funds for surveying and marking outland boundaries of the areas they are in charge while staff were eitherincompetent or lacked legal knowledge.
According to Nguyen Van Chien, former deputy director of LandRegistration Department (The Land Management Administration), in order toperform the management of State farms well in the future, managers should firstchange the policies which were not suitable with the reality.
“It was necessary to sufficiently provide funds from Stateand local budgets for surveying and marking out land boundaries of agriculturaland forestry farms to serve as a basis for State management tasks on othertypes of land,” Chien said.
Also, monitoring and inspection of law compliance to the landoriginating from agricultural and forestry farms should be enhanced to avoidincorrect land use, he said.
Over 30 years, transferring land of State-owned agricultureand forestry farms has made a significant contribution to socio-economicdevelopment in Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) region.
The land management has been well performed in the provinceof Dak Lak for many years.
At present, the province has a total of 65 agriculture andforestry companies and forest management boards which were allocated more than345,703 ha of land.
Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Y GiangGry Niê Knong said the province had made land measurement and drew cadastralmaps for nearly 200,000ha of farmland.
The inspection works had discovered and handled violations bycompanies, organisations and households.
This year, the province had revoked 5,572ha from eightentities found violating land use regulations.
The close watch had helped reduce land disputes andcomplaints making contribution to security and social stability in the province.
Farm companies had focused on protecting and plantingforests, and restructuring agricultural plant patterns suitable with localcharacteristics.
Along with the achievement of farm land management, theprovince has been facing a number of difficulties.
According to Bui Thanh Lam, director of the province’sNatural Resources and Environment Department, since 2004 the province hadallocated land to communes for management but in fact the land use has not beeneffective enough.
At present, hundred thousands of hectares of land weremisused in several communes.
“Large areas of land transferred caused pressures forcommunes in management and forest protection”, said Lam.
“Under the regulations, the heads of communes wereresponsible for land management and forest protection. But in fact, communesdid not have enough human resource for the job”, Lam said.
“So, the allocated land was illegally encroached by localpeople,” he said.
Granting certificates of land use rights also faced obstacles.
In the province, there were 11 villages set up by localethnic minorities and migrants who were allocated land of State farms.
After 14 years of improving the forest soils for agricultureproduction, they had stable lives but were not granted the certificates of landuse rights due to legal regulations, Lam said.
Therefore the province wanted revisions to legal regulationsto help effectively manage and use the land of former State-owned agricultureand forestry farms, Lam added.-VNS/VNA
The land is currently used by agriculture companies, forestrycompanies, forest management units and other organisations, households andindividuals.
In fact, a number of shortcomings have been exposed in themanagement and use of the land, such as in the implementation of procedures forlease, determination of land prices and collection of land use levy, andgranting certificates of land-use rights and changing the land use purposes.
According to a report by the Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Environment, more than 60 percent of the State-owned agricultural andforest farms that had switched to company models did not follow procedures ofland transfer with payment or land lease as per regulations in the Law of Land2003.
These farms owned 88 percent of total land allocated to theState agricultural and forest farms nation-wide, the report said.
Many farms had not closely monitored the land use aftertransfer to companies or individuals so many areas of land were illegallyconverted to civil uses such as housing or service facilities, or even sold forhigh profits.
A typical case is twenty-seven constructions that wereillegally built on forest land in Hanoi’s Soc Son district over the past twoyears. The work includes houses, villas and even an eco-tourism area with aswimming pool, stilt houses and concrete roads.
The main reason originated from a wrong perception that thefarms were owned by the State and the managers were State-paid servants so landtransfer did not need supervising and monitoring.
Many farms did not have funds for surveying and marking outland boundaries of the areas they are in charge while staff were eitherincompetent or lacked legal knowledge.
According to Nguyen Van Chien, former deputy director of LandRegistration Department (The Land Management Administration), in order toperform the management of State farms well in the future, managers should firstchange the policies which were not suitable with the reality.
“It was necessary to sufficiently provide funds from Stateand local budgets for surveying and marking out land boundaries of agriculturaland forestry farms to serve as a basis for State management tasks on othertypes of land,” Chien said.
Also, monitoring and inspection of law compliance to the landoriginating from agricultural and forestry farms should be enhanced to avoidincorrect land use, he said.
Over 30 years, transferring land of State-owned agricultureand forestry farms has made a significant contribution to socio-economicdevelopment in Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) region.
The land management has been well performed in the provinceof Dak Lak for many years.
At present, the province has a total of 65 agriculture andforestry companies and forest management boards which were allocated more than345,703 ha of land.
Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Y GiangGry Niê Knong said the province had made land measurement and drew cadastralmaps for nearly 200,000ha of farmland.
The inspection works had discovered and handled violations bycompanies, organisations and households.
This year, the province had revoked 5,572ha from eightentities found violating land use regulations.
The close watch had helped reduce land disputes andcomplaints making contribution to security and social stability in the province.
Farm companies had focused on protecting and plantingforests, and restructuring agricultural plant patterns suitable with localcharacteristics.
Along with the achievement of farm land management, theprovince has been facing a number of difficulties.
According to Bui Thanh Lam, director of the province’sNatural Resources and Environment Department, since 2004 the province hadallocated land to communes for management but in fact the land use has not beeneffective enough.
At present, hundred thousands of hectares of land weremisused in several communes.
“Large areas of land transferred caused pressures forcommunes in management and forest protection”, said Lam.
“Under the regulations, the heads of communes wereresponsible for land management and forest protection. But in fact, communesdid not have enough human resource for the job”, Lam said.
“So, the allocated land was illegally encroached by localpeople,” he said.
Granting certificates of land use rights also faced obstacles.
In the province, there were 11 villages set up by localethnic minorities and migrants who were allocated land of State farms.
After 14 years of improving the forest soils for agricultureproduction, they had stable lives but were not granted the certificates of landuse rights due to legal regulations, Lam said.
Therefore the province wanted revisions to legal regulationsto help effectively manage and use the land of former State-owned agricultureand forestry farms, Lam added.-VNS/VNA
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