HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội authorities have ordered a comprehensive inspection on the use and management of protection forest in Minh Phú and Minh Trí communes in Sóc Sơn District to tackle long-standing violations.

The decision came after the media uncovered rampant violations of regulations of land use and construction management in the two communes.

According to media reports, since 2015, there has been massive transference of land use rights in the two communes. Some individuals have bought dozens of hectares of land to build villas, resorts and restaurants.

All the involved land, however, belongs to protection forest.

A recent report by Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper said a number of resorts and villas had been built recently in the pine forest stretching across the two communes.

They are already in operation, offering accommodations to guests at fairly high prices.

According to Chairman of the Hà Nội People’s Committee Nguyễn Đức Chung, the city’s inspectors and the Government Inspectorate already detected these violations and asked that they be tackled in 2005 and 2006.

The inspection of the Government Inspectorate in 2006 revealed that 650 households had conducted construction work on 11 hectares of forest land, of which 80 works are consolidated houses and 26 are workshops and farms.

Despite the fact that the municipal People’s Committee has ordered follow-up actions after the inspections, Sóc Sơn District authorities and related agencies failed to tackle the violations properly and even allowed new violations to happen.

In the latest document on this issue, the municipal People’s Committee ordered the city’s inspectors to comprehensively review the management of land use and construction licences in the two communes from 2008 until now and the execution of the orders made by the Government Inspectorate and the inspectors in the past.

They also asked the authorities of Sóc Sơn District, Minh Phú and Minh Trí communes to suspend all violated construction work.

In the past two years, competent agencies have detected 28 cases in Sóc Sơn District of infringement on forest land. — VNS