The urban area of Phu Hoa Lake, Quy Nhon City, Binh Dinh Province is abandoned. (Photo: SGGP)
From raising cows to raising pigs
In many localities, although farmers want to have a large area of land or expand the scale of agricultural production investment, they do not have a land fund, whereas the land is forsaken in some localities. The Hapho Food Factory Project in Tien Lang District in Hai Phong Province is an example.
The 15 hectares of land of the Hapho Food Hai Phong project have been deserted for nearly five years, and the grass has grown overhead. According to the research of SGGP Newspaper’s reporter, the Hapho Food Hai Phong Factory project, invested by Haphofood Co., Ltd., with a total capital of about VND2 trillion, was to build six agricultural product processing lines. The project was expected not only to help farmers escape the situation of good harvest – low prices but also to create jobs for about 1,000 local workers. Moreover, Hai Phong also planned to convert 7,750 hectares of rice land to orchards to supply raw materials when the project was to come into operation in the first quarter of 2021.
However, by the beginning of September 2022, the entire 15ha of the project is still a wasteland. According to Mr. Pham Xuan Hoa, Chief of the Office of the People's Committee of Tien Lang District, the investor had made a land return application.
Down to the Central region, in Ngu Hoa Commune, Tuyen Hoa District, Quang Binh Province, many people complained that the Gia Han Company had taken hundreds of hectares of land to raise cows. However, they did not carry out the project properly, while farmers lacked land to make a living. This company has been allocated nearly 245 hectares of land over the past eight years, but the project still has four Nos: no grazing land, no shed, no electricity and water, and no cows. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ngu Hoa Commune, said that this company was asking to switch to raising pigs.
In the Central Highlands, since 2008, Gia Lai Province has licensed 16 businesses to invest in 44 rubber plantation projects with an area of more than 32,000 hectares. However, after planting, all rubber trees died. Dead rubber trees paint the hills in Duc Co, Chu Prong, and Chu Puh districts white. In many places, there are only bare hills.
According to Mr. Dinh Van Dung, Secretary of the Chu Prong District Party Committee in Gia Lai Province, the district has 11,000 hectares of rubber plantations, but none of the rubber trees are still alive. The cause is determined simply because the rubber tree is not suitable for the soil in this area. Moreover, when making projects, the company only aimed at taking the land, so they did not survey the soil properly.
Destroying forests, tearing down mountains, filling up lakes
Not only farmland is abandoned, but the land allocated for real estate and resort development projects in urban areas also experiences the same situation. The most typical is the conglomerate FLC of Trinh Van Quyet, who manipulated his company’s stock prices. In three poor provinces along the Central region, this company called dibs on thousands of hectares of land, then left them abandoned there. In Le Thuy and Quang Ninh districts in Quang Binh Province, FLC holds nearly 2,000 hectares of coastal land to build resorts and golf courses. However, after a long time of being allocated land, the Ministry of Public Security requested Quang Binh Province to provide documents related to the above investments.
Going South about 300km, in Quang Ngai Province, according to the provincial Department of Construction, nine projects of FLC were approved for investment in 2018 in Dung Quat Economic Zone in Binh Son District, including four urban development and five eco-tourism projects, with a total area of 247ha and a total committed investment of more than VND18 trillion. However, recently, the People's Committee of Quang Ngai Province directed to withdraw these projects for bidding to select investors. Thus, after nearly five years of taking the land, FLC still let the grass grow densely on projects, occupying hundreds of hectares of land.
In many localities, although farmers want to have a large area of land or expand the scale of agricultural production investment, they do not have a land fund, whereas the land is forsaken in some localities. The Hapho Food Factory Project in Tien Lang District in Hai Phong Province is an example.
The 15 hectares of land of the Hapho Food Hai Phong project have been deserted for nearly five years, and the grass has grown overhead. According to the research of SGGP Newspaper’s reporter, the Hapho Food Hai Phong Factory project, invested by Haphofood Co., Ltd., with a total capital of about VND2 trillion, was to build six agricultural product processing lines. The project was expected not only to help farmers escape the situation of good harvest – low prices but also to create jobs for about 1,000 local workers. Moreover, Hai Phong also planned to convert 7,750 hectares of rice land to orchards to supply raw materials when the project was to come into operation in the first quarter of 2021.
However, by the beginning of September 2022, the entire 15ha of the project is still a wasteland. According to Mr. Pham Xuan Hoa, Chief of the Office of the People's Committee of Tien Lang District, the investor had made a land return application.
Down to the Central region, in Ngu Hoa Commune, Tuyen Hoa District, Quang Binh Province, many people complained that the Gia Han Company had taken hundreds of hectares of land to raise cows. However, they did not carry out the project properly, while farmers lacked land to make a living. This company has been allocated nearly 245 hectares of land over the past eight years, but the project still has four Nos: no grazing land, no shed, no electricity and water, and no cows. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ngu Hoa Commune, said that this company was asking to switch to raising pigs.
In the Central Highlands, since 2008, Gia Lai Province has licensed 16 businesses to invest in 44 rubber plantation projects with an area of more than 32,000 hectares. However, after planting, all rubber trees died. Dead rubber trees paint the hills in Duc Co, Chu Prong, and Chu Puh districts white. In many places, there are only bare hills.
According to Mr. Dinh Van Dung, Secretary of the Chu Prong District Party Committee in Gia Lai Province, the district has 11,000 hectares of rubber plantations, but none of the rubber trees are still alive. The cause is determined simply because the rubber tree is not suitable for the soil in this area. Moreover, when making projects, the company only aimed at taking the land, so they did not survey the soil properly.
Destroying forests, tearing down mountains, filling up lakes
Not only farmland is abandoned, but the land allocated for real estate and resort development projects in urban areas also experiences the same situation. The most typical is the conglomerate FLC of Trinh Van Quyet, who manipulated his company’s stock prices. In three poor provinces along the Central region, this company called dibs on thousands of hectares of land, then left them abandoned there. In Le Thuy and Quang Ninh districts in Quang Binh Province, FLC holds nearly 2,000 hectares of coastal land to build resorts and golf courses. However, after a long time of being allocated land, the Ministry of Public Security requested Quang Binh Province to provide documents related to the above investments.
Going South about 300km, in Quang Ngai Province, according to the provincial Department of Construction, nine projects of FLC were approved for investment in 2018 in Dung Quat Economic Zone in Binh Son District, including four urban development and five eco-tourism projects, with a total area of 247ha and a total committed investment of more than VND18 trillion. However, recently, the People's Committee of Quang Ngai Province directed to withdraw these projects for bidding to select investors. Thus, after nearly five years of taking the land, FLC still let the grass grow densely on projects, occupying hundreds of hectares of land.
Vina Universal Paradise Commercial and Service Area project remains a wasteland after being allocated land for 14 years. (Photo: SGGP)
Binh Dinh Province could not escape from the hands of FLC either. Recently, the Management Board of the provincial Economic Zone has requested to terminate the operation of three projects of FLC, including the Bamboo Airways Aviation Training Institute project in the Nhon Hoi eco-tourism urban area in Nhon Hoi Commune, Eo Gio High-Class Eco-Tourism Resort project in Nhon Ly Commune, and Golf Academy Resort Villa project in Nhon Ly Commune. These three projects occupy more than 52ha of land in Quy Nhon City, with the amount of committed investment capital of trillions of Vietnamese dong. Nevertheless, after five years of being allocated land, the company still carries out these projects on paper. One of the projects that have been widely promoted since 2008 is the Vina Universal Paradise Commercial and Service Area project, with an announced scale of 237 townhouses, 183 villas, and 56 bungalows located in the most beautiful land in Quang Ngai City in Quang Ngai Province, invested by Vina Tourism and Film Studio Investment Joint Stock Company. However, Nguyen Van Hai, the owner of Milano coffee shop, located about 300 meters from the project, was surprised when asked about this project. He said it had been a wasteland for many years, and local people often dumped garbage there, causing pollution. He did not know it was such a large-scale project. This project covers 60ha of land, but after 14 years of being allocated the land, at the beginning of September 2022, it is still a wasteland with weeds and garbage. Up to the early days of September 2022, the project of Phu Hoa Lake Urban Area in Quy Nhon City in Binh Dinh Province, with an area of 324 hectares, is still a vast area of abandoned land. Local people reflected that, for many years, the company tore down the mountains to level the ground, but then abandoned the project. As a result, local people have to suffer landslides in the rainy season. Not only destroying the forest and the mountains, but the project also filled up a large area of Phu Hoa Lake in Nhon Phu and Dong Da wards in Quy Nhon City, which regulates water and is known as the lungs of Quy Nhon City. This project is invested by Phuc Loc Group Joint Stock Company, approved by Binh Dinh Province in July 2015. According to the latest data of 48 provinces and cities, more than 3,000 projects and works are slow to implement, with a total area of nearly 80,454 ha. Of these, 2,067 projects with 60,332.1ha of land have had land allocation or land lease decisions but do not use the land for more than 12 months or are behind the schedule for more than 24 months. These projects not only greatly affect the socio-economic development in the localities but also cause serious waste of land resources. Faced with this situation, in early September 2022, the Government issued Resolution No.115 on handling negative and corrupt acts in land management. In which, the Government requires ministries and agencies to step up inspection, examination, supervision, and handling of wasteful land, allocated or leased land, but slow to put it into use or abandon; strictly handle acts of tax evasion in the transfer of the land-use rights, corrupt and negative acts in land management.
