Ho Chi Minh City is accelerating compensation payments and land clearance for the projects aimed at renovating the northern bank of Doi Canal and Xuyen Tam Canal. However, the process is currently obstructed by cases of informal buying and selling of houses and land through handwritten agreements and unofficial documents.
Hundreds of cases awaiting resolution
While significant progress has been made on Doi Canal's northern bank renovation along Nguyen Duy Street in Hung Phu Ward of District 8 with numerous houses demolished and land relinquished, a considerable number of cases remain unresolved pending compensation and resettlement disbursements.
A resident on Nguyen Duy Street in Ward 12 of District 8 said that his house, which has an area of over 30 square meters, has been built for several decades. Previously, he rented this house for living and business purposes. In March 2022, the owner sold it to him through a handwritten agreement and an unofficial document.
He moaned that the house is old and deteriorating but he is not allowed to repair it. For months, some neighbors in the area have gradually received their compensation and moved to other places, while he was anxiously waiting for his turn.
Investigations show that the renovation project on the northern bank of Doi Canal affects 1,617 households. The District 8 Compensation and Land Clearance Board has reached out to 1,201 of these, who have agreed to the proposed compensation and support plan. So far, the District 8 People's Committee has issued 415 compensation decisions. Of those, funds have been disbursed to 268 cases, totaling nearly VND874 billion (US$33.75 million) —representing a disbursement rate of just 16.38 percent.
Head Nguyen Hong Thuan of the Compensation and Land Clearance Board of District 8, stated that despite local efforts to accelerate progress, the pace of compensation disbursement and land clearance remains behind schedule.
For the Xuyen Tam Canal renovation project in Binh Thanh District, 2,077 cases are affected. Authorities have contacted 1,660 of them, with 510 agreeing to the proposed compensation and support plan. Compensation and support have been paid to 407 cases, totaling over VND283 billion.
According to a representative from the Binh Thanh District Compensation and Land Clearance Board, 382 cases remain unresolved due to issues such as handwritten agreements (paper-based sales) or informal documents and land subdivision complications. These issues are the main reasons why the land clearance progress is lagging behind the timeline set by the Department of Agriculture and Environment.
Authorities should have specific solutions soon
In principle, land divisions, separations, donations, or transfers of land use rights made after July 1, 2014, through handwritten or notarized documents are not legally recognized and are ineligible for land use certificate issuance.
As a result, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Agriculture and Environment advises that compensation, support, and resettlement records should be prepared for the original land and house users. However, in practice, this process faces following challenges. Current users often refuse to cooperate or relinquish the property, and in many cases, the former owners have either passed away or relocated, making record preparation difficult.
From the above problems, on December 20, 2024, the Department of Agriculture and Environment issued a document suggesting the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City consider three options.
Option 1 requires preparing records for land users and carrying out the notification and posting process. However, this approach poses challenges for local authorities, as they cannot guarantee "no change, no additional compensation, support, or resettlement value" for those with established compensation records compared to those whose land is recovered.
Option 2, like Option 1, meets the criterion of maintaining the original compensation and support values without any changes or additional payments. However, with respect to resettlement, further consideration is needed to address households with genuine housing needs—whether through sales, rent-to-own arrangements, or access to social housing.
Option 3 is also similar to Option 1 but does not include the requirement of “no change or additional compensation, support, or resettlement value".
The Department of Agriculture and Environment has recommended Option 2, citing its practical applicability and alignment with legal rigor.
Based on this recommendation, on January 13, 2025, the Office of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee issued a directive forwarding the proposal to the Department of Justice for review and further study.
The Department of Justice sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee on January 24, 2025. The document suggested that the Department of Agriculture and Environment analyze cases of gifts and transfers made after July 1, 2014 that violate legal regulations. The Department of Justice advised that compensation and support should only be considered for cases where the previous owner is deceased, cannot be contacted, or does not cooperate in compiling the required documentation, as proposed by the Department of Agriculture and Environment.
However, after reviewing the Department of Justice's guidance and comparing the regulations, the Department of Agriculture and Environment still could not provide clear instructions for local administrations in districts and Thu Duc City People's Committees to implement.
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