6 years without completing the “red book”

(QBĐT) – After nearly 6 years of waiting for the competent authority to consider granting land use right certificates (LURCs), the files of Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh (born in 1977) and Ms. Vo Thi Lanh (born in 1976) in Tan Hoa village, Ngu Thuy Bac commune (Le Thuy) have not yet been resolved.

Recently, Quang Binh Newspaper received a petition from Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh and Ms. Vo Thi Lanh stating that the local government and competent authorities were slow in resolving and causing difficulties for them in the process of completing procedures for granting land use rights certificates.

Chorus… waiting

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh, since 2002, after getting married, he and his wife reclaimed a plot of land with an area of ​​over 2.000m2 in Tan Hoa village to build a house and raise livestock and grow crops. At that time, this area had no roads, but only trails for people to travel. Around 2008, because his and his wife’s house had not been connected to a power line for lighting (because it was far from a concentrated residential area – PV), the local government supported the family with a solar energy device to have electricity to use.

Mr. Tinh said: “At that time, land management was not as strict as it is now. Any family with children getting married and wanting to separate households but not having land to live on had to find land to reclaim to build a house. At that time, my wife and I had just gotten married, our family situation was difficult, while this plot of land did not have an owner, so we went to reclaim land and build a small house, as a place to shelter from the rain and sun.”

In 2014, when they had enough money, they built a new house (the house where they are currently living – PV) on the plot of land opposite the above-mentioned reclaimed land. This plot of land was also reclaimed by them when they lived here (in 2002). As for the old house, they did not demolish it but left it as a souvenir. According to our observations, currently on the old plot of land there is still a small house that Mr. Tinh and Ms. Lanh built in 2002. Since then, they have been cultivating and producing on this plot of land and have not had any disputes with anyone else. According to the cadastral survey registration form, the address of the land plot on the map is plot number 63, map sheet number 8.

In 2019, due to the need to mortgage assets to the bank to borrow capital for business and for their children’s education, Mr. Tinh and Ms. Lanh thought about completing procedures to have the competent authority issue the first land use right certificate. Thinking that it was just to complete legal procedures to determine ownership of the land plot in use, they went to the responsible person in Ngu Thuy Bac commune for guidance on completing the application. However, time and time again, the promises of the responsible person fell on deaf ears. Since then, they have not been considered by the competent authority to issue the land use right certificate.

Frustrated because the file was “soaked” for a long time

Unable to wait for the local authorities to resolve the matter, Mr. Tinh and Ms. Lanh had to submit their documents at the one-stop-shop of the People’s Committee of Le Thuy district. However, according to Mr. Tinh: “Our documents submitted here have also been “soaked” for too long”. In the “Document Receipt and Appointment for Return of Results” of the Branch of the Land Registration Office (LRO) of Le Thuy district, Ms. Vo Thi Lanh’s documents were received on October 23, 10. The appointment date for return of results is December 2023, 27. However, by the end of January 12, the competent authority still has no clear answer on how the settlement will be handled.

This time, Ms. Vo Thi Lanh sent a petition to the Director of the Land Registration Office (under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment) to reflect on the delay in processing the dossier. On February 2, 2, the Land Registration Office sent a document to the Director of the Le Thuy District Land Registration Office Branch with the following content: “Based on the provisions of Article 2024, Decision No. 12/09/QD-UBND, dated May 2021, 6 of the Provincial People’s Committee, the procedure for registration and issuance of the first land use right certificate is under the authority of the Le Thuy District People’s Committee”.

To verify the incident, we worked with responsible people of Ngu Thuy Bac commune. Vice Chairman of Ngu Thuy Bac commune People’s Committee Vo Van Duong said: “Through actual inspection, the land plot of Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh and Ms. Vo Thi Lanh has been reclaimed and used for a long time. However, after reclaiming the land, building a house and living there for a while, Mr. Tinh and Ms. Lanh built a house on another plot of land. Currently, Mr. Tinh wants to be granted an agricultural land use right certificate for this land plot. However, during the reception process, we did not officially receive the application for a land use right certificate from Mr. Tinh and Ms. Lanh, but only recently did we know that Mr. Tinh and Ms. Lanh submitted it to the one-stop-shop department of Le Thuy district People’s Committee”.

Responding to the question of whether or not there was an intentional delay, causing difficulties and harassment in the process of handling Mr. Tinh and Ms. Lanh’s files, Mr. Vo Van Duong said: “The commune officials and civil servants did not commit any acts of harassment. However, this case makes us very concerned…”.

Regarding this incident, Director of the Le Thuy District Land Registration Office, Dao Van Mau, said that the current frustration of Mr. Tinh and Ms. Lanh was due to being suppressed for many years. Through investigation, about 5 years ago, the application for a land use right certificate of Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh and Ms. Vo Thi Lanh was received by Ngu Thuy Bac commune, but then “stuck” because the commune’s land officer was disciplined. In 2023, Ms. Lanh submitted the application at the one-stop-shop of the District People’s Committee. After receiving it, the unit sent staff to handle it. However, the handling process was delayed.

The reason is that the branch staff could not contact the village chief to survey and confirm the land use origin of Mr. Tinh and Ms. Lanh. After many unsuccessful attempts to coordinate, the branch staff measured and handed over the results to Mr. Tinh’s family to contact the village chief to sign the confirmation, but they were also unsuccessful. In this incident, the unit’s surveying staff lacked close coordination with the local authorities, because while in most other localities, the commune land official was the surveyor, in Ngu Thuy Bac commune, the surveyor was the village chief. Currently, the unit has just completed the measurement results for Mr. Tinh and Ms. Lanh’s family, and transferred them to the local authorities and competent authorities for settlement according to the procedure.

Duong Cong Hop