Since the middle of June, functional agencies of Kien Giang province have organized many patrol teams to address illegal deforestation and encroachment of existing forests, especially along the road from the pier at Bai Vong Hamlet (of Ham Ninh Commune) to the main North-South route.
From the center of Duong Dong Commune northwards, it is not hard to spot red soil of mountain slopes. Along the main North-South route, forests are retreating more and more to reveal empty land lots surrounded by concrete stakes stretched with barbed wire to mark the border and signal ownership. Not a long time ago, forests were still bounded to the edge of this route. The southward direction is not any better.
Phu Quoc City Forest Protection Division reported that in the first 6 months of 2022, there were 8 hot spots of illegal deforestation throughout the island. In Zone 75 at Ganh Dau Hamlet (belonging to the special-use forest for ecological restoration), violators are still growing crops and using the land with no signal of correcting their fault as regulated. Encroached land is still being purchased, houses are being built there, and the special-use forest is still violated. Some people even take advantage of the recovered land after the 2004 inspection to continue their illegal activities.
In other zones of 59, 61, 73, 76, the situation is the same, with various people destroying existing forests to grow their trees and build houses without permission. Some criminals in the communes of Cua Duong, Duong To, Bai Thom, Cua Can even use machines to log trees on an area of hundreds of hectares for road building, electricity pole installing, house constructing, and fruit tree growing.
Pretending to be a land purchaser, it is not hard to find land brokers who offer land lots at all price ranges depending on the level of formal documents (with or without the red book, with or without planning document). The lots are mostly sited near the mountains of An Thoi, Co Sau, Ham Ninh, Ra Da.
Q, a land broker in Phu Quoc City, showed the lots on Co Sau Mountain and shared that many lots have had villas on them already. Their value has increased from VND7 billion (US$300,000) to VND20 billion ($855,000). He added that after purchasing the lot, buyers can hire residents to clear bushes and divide a large lot into smaller ones for sale.
Hiring people to clear the lots is not hard either, since many people with legal lots at mountain foot or forest border normally find ways to expand their size, mostly onto the mountain.
Tran Van Vu from Soc Trang Province shared that he and his wife came to the island to be masons and sometimes accept land lot clearance tasks with a wage 3 times as high as his mason wage for a day. Those who hire him for this task usually organize guard posts from afar and prepare an escape route, so he has never been captured. In case of being arrested, people will pay the fine for him to return home.
Reports from Phu Quoc National Park reveal that there are now 22 group of illegally destroying forests and encroaching forest land. They normally work late at night to early in the morning, weekends. They assign a few to guard at their posts to notify their accomplices when functional agencies are coming. There is also a team specializing in faking documents to sell forest land, said Vice Chairman of Phu Quoc City People’s Committee Pham Van Nghiep.
The hardest at present in forest protection and management is human resources limit, said Vice Chairman of Kien Giang Province People’s Committee Le Quoc Anh. The forest protection and management force in Phu Quoc City is divided into 15 teams, with 2-3 people each, in order to guard nearly 2,500ha of forest. Moreover, the policies for them is rather outdated, and thus many have quitted the job to find other ways to earn their living.
The city is highly aware of all challenges and the complexity of forest protection and management on Phu Quoc Island. Proposals have been submitted to higher levels for approval. Meanwhile, the localities have to try their best to overcome obstacles to protect forests here, stressed Chairman of Phu Quoc City People’s Committee Huynh Quang Hung.
Since the beginning of this year, 155 cases of illegal forest destruction have been detected. 5 of them have been prosecuted, 150 received administrative fines to retrieve over VND1.37 billion ($58,600). Until the end of 2022, the local authorities will organize more patrols to pinpoint more cases to punish at the highest level possible. Any repeated offenses or serious violation will be prosecuted immediately. Encroachment construction works will be dismantled to return land to forests.
