CONSIDER HANDLING THE CASE OF 'GOLDEN LAND' ILLEGALLY RENTED BY THE WIFE OF THE FORMER DISTRICT CHAI

Authorities are considering handling the case that Vinh Thanh District People's Committee (Binh Dinh Province) leased more than 0.7 hectares of land to the wife of former Chairman of the District People's Committee to build a sports entertainment center but did not consult the Binh Dinh Provincial People's Committee and did not hold bidding, showing signs of violating the law.

Did not consult the People's Committee of Binh Dinh province

Speaking with a reporter of Dan Viet Newspaper , Mr. Ly Hoai Nam - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Vinh Thanh district (Binh Dinh province) said that he is preparing a report to the district People's Committee regarding the case that Mrs. Vo Thi Anh Nhan (wife of Mr. Tran Cong Sy - former Chairman of Vinh Thanh District People's Committee) leased 7,947.3m2 of land (more than 0.7ha) to build a sports entertainment center but did not seek approval of People's Committee of Binh Dinh province.

According to the case file, in 2013, Mrs. Vo Thi Anh Nhan applied to lease 9,100m2 of land with a term of 50 years in parcel 17, map sheet No.01 (Vinh Thanh town) to both the People's Committee of Vinh Thanh district and the People's Committee of Vinh Thanh town for service business purposes and has been confirmed that the ability of the leased land fund is in accordance with the planning by the Town People's Committee.

In May 2014, the People's Committee of Vinh Thanh district approved the detailed 1/500-scale construction-planning of Vinh Thanh district's entertainment and sport center which was invested by Ms. Vo Thi Anh Nhan.

In July 2014, after considering Mrs. Nhan's land lease application and the proposal of the Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the People's Committee of Vinh Thanh District decided to lease out 7,947.3m2 of land to Mrs. Vo Thi Anh Nhan (at plot No. 01 cadastral map sheet in Vinh Thanh town) to build a sports entertainment center, the land lease term is 50 years.

The person who signed the land lease decision is Mr. Le Van Dau - Vice Chairman of Vinh Thanh District People's Committee. In 2014, Mr. Tran Quoc Lai (brother of Mr. Tran Cong Sy - former Chairman of Vinh Thanh District People's Committee) held the position of Chairman of Vinh Thanh District People's Committee.

In December 2014, Mr. Tu Hai - Head of Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Vinh Thanh district on behalf of the District People's Committee signed a contract for Ms. Vo Thi Anh Nhan to lease land for 50 years (lease term until July 24, 2064), with the rent of 3,360 VND/m2/year.

In 2015, Mr. Le Van Dau - Vice Chairman of Vinh Thanh District People's Committee continued to sign and grant a certificate of land use rights (ownership of houses and properties attached to land) to Ms. Vo Thi Anh Nhan with a total area of 7,947.3m2, the source of use is the land leased by the State with annual rental payment.

According to our observations, the land rented by Ms. Vo Thi Anh Nhan has a quite favorable location, considered a "golden land" in the center of this district, adjacent to the forest hill, the campus of the Vinh Thanh uprising monument.

Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Vinh Thanh district - Mr. Ly Hoai Nam said that this land was previously planned as park land. But later, Mrs. Nhan had an idea to make an amusement park, so the district agreed to lease the land.

"However, through the inspection, we have found some problems. Specifically, according to the 2013 Land Law, in case the district leases more than 5,000m2 of land to households for commercial purposes, it must be asked for approval from the People's Committee of Binh Dinh province. But through inspection, the request for approval of the Provincial People's Committee was not carried out, "said Mr. Nam.

According to Mr. Ly Hoai Nam, this happened due to the fact that officials have not properly understood the regulations under the 2013 Land Law. In addition, the 50-year land lease for households to build a residential and entertainment area is too long and not reasonable.

"On the leased land with an area of ​​more than 2,000m2, the landowner carried out construction not according to the design of the planning documents. The authorities have imposed an administrative fine of 40 million VND, forcing the dismantling of illegal construction. The district is also considering a plan to recover this area," said Mr. Nam.

There are signs of breaking the law

Lawyer Nguyen Cong Tin of FDVN Law Firm of Bar Association of Da Nang said that according to the law on land and the law on investment, for investment projects using land that investors does not have land, the selection of the investor must be done through auction of land use rights (for land that has been cleared) or bidding (for land that has not yet been cleared).

On the other hand, according to Point a of Clause 2 of Article 59 of the Land Law 2013 , for households and individuals renting land more than 0.5 ha, written approval from the provincial-level People’s Committee is required before the district-level People’s Committee makes the decision on: "Allocation or lease of land to, and permission of change of land use purpose for, households and individuals. If these subjects wish to lease or use agricultural land with an area of 0.5 ha or more for trading and service purposes, written approval from the provincial-level People’s Committee is required before the district-level People’s Committee makes a decision;".

"There are signs of violation of the law when the People's Committee of Vinh Thanh District leased land to Mrs. Vo Thi Anh Nhan to implement the project of building a sports entertainment center with a lease term of 50 years and a leased area of 7,947.3m2, but did not organize auction of land use rights or bid to select investors, the decision to lease over 0.5ha land was made without the approval of Binh Dinh Provincial People's Committee," said lawyer Nguyen Cong Tin. 

Also according to lawyer Nguyen Cong Tin, depending on the nature and severity of the above violations, violators may be disciplined or examined for penal liability for crimes such as: Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences; Crime of violating regulations on land management.

For multi-aspect information, reporters contacted Mrs. Vo Thi Anh Nhan (wife of Mr. Tran Cong Sy - former Chairman of Vinh Thanh District People's Committee). Mrs. Nhan informed that she participated in the bidding but no one bid, so she made an application to rent the land.

"I do business in the entertainment area for volleyball, coffee ... at this place," said Ms. Nhan.

However, Head of the Division of Natural Resources and Environment of Vinh Thanh District Ly Hoai Nam affirmed: "There is no bidding or auction, the district just leased the land directly to Mrs. Nhan".

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