HCMC To Get Tough In Revoking Unused Public Land

by Prey Nokor
July 17, 2009

The building of Vietnam Post in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 that has been leased out to a stock company.

Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday promised to take immediate and strict measures against the waste and misuse of land owned by state-owned companies, especially those that have been unused or leased out illegally.

“There has been a huge waste in using public assets while the revocation process of these lands has been too slow,” said Nguyen Minh Hoang, a HCMC People’s Council deputy.

Hoang, former chairman of the council’s Economic and Budget Section, also said relevant agencies have failed to clarify the responsibilities of the groups involved.

He was speaking at a meeting between the city’s National Assembly delegates and concerned agencies on the issue of public land use, which is supervised by a team of the NA Standing Committee.

Dao Anh Kiet, director of the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE), said a recent inventory found 410 land plots covering a total area of 6.3 million square meters in the city are being used by state-owned groups.

Only 2.5 million square meters are being used legally. More than 3.7 million square meters have been left unused and the rest were either leased out, occupied or involved in disputes relating to land-use rights, he added.

Vietnam does not technically allow land ownership but grants land-use rights, which confer the same rights as freehold property.

Kiet said the waste in using these lands originated from the subsidized mechanism and these land plots have lower rentals than market prices.

Several groups have leased these lands to third parties for huge benefits, he said.
He also said the equitization process has ignored actual land use demand from some groups, and they have begun to use it for illegal purposes.

Other enterprises have relied on lax management or irresponsibility of the leaders to lease out land improperly, especially those under direct management of central agencies, Kiet said.
Dao Thi Huong Lan, director of the Department of Finance, said many companies have used land improperly but still suggested to the city that they continue using them, or were reluctant to return them.

Tightening up
Kiet said the city would issue strict measures against companies using public land to illegally lease them or lend them at no cost.

He said the government should stop subsidizing land for some companies and begin to collect rents.

The DNRE has suggested that the city sign leasing contracts for the public land, and at higher rents because the current rental framework was outdated.

Kiet also proposed that the city collects arrears in cases where the involved companies had illegally leased land to a third party.

Ha Van Hien, chairman of the NA Economic Committee, said they will propose to the NA and the central government more measures to manage public land used by state-owned companies.
Government statistics show HCMC has revoked 36 land plots totalling 30,300 square meters during the first half of this year, raising the total to 165 plots covering 605,900 square meters.
The revoked lands have been used for social welfare projects, leased to other companies for better use, or sold. The revoked land and houses have been sold for a total of VND14.9 trillion (US$836.7 million).