HÀ NỘI — The People’s Committee of Hà Nội’s Sóc Sơn District has asked Minh Phú Commune People’s Committee to coordinate with relevant agencies in solving violations relating to illegal construction on forest land by the end of November.

The owners of illegal constructions should take the buildings down or local authorities would dismantle them by force.

To facilitate the work, a campaign has been launched with a view to raise local residents’ awareness on the issue.

As of Monday, five out of 18 constructions that were illegally built on forest land have been demolished by their owners.

Chu Tuấn Thanh, who had a 79-sq.m house that was due to be dismantled, said his family didn’t comply with the authority’s request, saying the responsibility of involved individuals and organisations should be clarified before dismantling began.

Thanh said he and his wife bought 1,800 sq.m of forest land in 2004 and the land purchase was certified by Minh Phú Commune’s People’s Committee.

When asked about resident’s response to violations, Nguyễn Trường Giang, head of the Natural Resources and Environment Division, said the district authority hadn’t received people’s feedback in writing regarding the settlement of illegal constructions on forest land.

Earlier, Hà Nội People’s Committee chairman Nguyễn Đức Chung asked for measures to address land use violations in Sóc Sơn District’s forest land. Twenty-seven constructions including houses, villas and even an eco-tourism area with a swimming pool, stilt houses and concrete roads that were illegally built on forest land in Hà Nội’s Sóc Sơn District over the past two years must be dismantled by December.

Chung said at a meeting late last month that the city’s agriculture department and Sóc Sơn District’s People’s Committee must contact the owners and tell them to take the buildings down.

The violations were detected in Minh Phú and Minh Trí communes, and since then the chairman of Minh Phú Commune People’s Committee has been suspended for 30 days for alleged involvement in land use and construction violations.

After local media reported rampant land use violations and construction in the two communes, Hà Nội authorities were prompted to examine the land use, land management and construction licences granted there. — VNS