HOÀ BÌNH — Leaders need to bear greater responsibility when resolving people’s complaints and denunciations, Bùi Văn Khánh, deputy head of Hoà Bình Province People’s Committee said during an online seminar with 11 sub-localities on Tuesday.

According to Hà Văn Bổng, chief inspector of Mai Châu District, in the first half of 2018, local authorities received 88 complaint letters focusing on land ownership disputes, land clearance, relocation and pollution.

Since there were no records on land management and local maps were hand-drawn in the past, tracking the previous owners of land, measuring it and preparing a dossier to ask for land use rights certificates were difficult for many residents.

The rising value and demand for land had also led to disputes and local authorities’ failures to resolve these problems trigger public uproar.

In Hoà Bình City, up to September, the People’s Committee received 53 delegations of people complaining about land management, use and disputes as well as compensation and relocation when land is withdrawn.

An additional 155 complaint letters were sent to the committee office.

Prolonged complaint resolving procedures and complex disputes revealed loopholes in local authorities’ mechanisms, policies and regulations. Meanwhile, many leaders have not fully performed their responsibilities in having dialogues with people and responding to their complaints.

According to Khánh, 12 complex disputes related to many organisations and individuals are still pending including denunciations of households in Yên Thuỷ District over Trung Dũng Company’s rock mining, of people in Trung Minh Commune, Hoà Bình Province over compensation for them to give up their land to build the Hoà Lạc-Hoà Bình Expressway and of residents in Lương Sơn District over pollution caused by THT Company’s untreated wastewater discharge.

Therefore, it is of importance for local and provincial leaders to collaborate to find solutions.

Land clearance and compensation for land owners need to be handled carefully right after projects are implemented to prevent any complaints or denunciations, the delegates agreed. — VNS