“I can’t stay, I can’t go”
Ms. Le Thi Bay, Party Cell Secretary, head of 10/10 village, said that the village has 75 households, with 5 ethnic groups living together (Kinh, Dao, San Diu, Tay, Thai). Since 2007, when the Dong Dong reservoir project was about to be implemented, it was thought that people would soon be compensated and move to another place to live. Unexpectedly, nearly 20 years have passed, the project is still “on paper”. Many households have not received compensation for site clearance.
“People can’t stay, they can’t leave! In order to develop the economy, there has been a decision to count and reclaim it, so how can we plant it anymore? If it takes 5 or 10 years to harvest, who dares to invest anymore? Many houses have not been compensated, so where will we get the money to move to another place? ” Ms. Bay wondered.
Following Ms. Bay, we crossed the wild fields in Dong Dong village, passed the vast acacia forest that was past harvest, and entered the residential area of 10/10 village located in the middle of a large valley.
Mr. Ly Van Toan, Dao ethnicity, a villager, said that for some reason, his family was not resettled, so his family did not agree. As a result, he was left behind…
“Normally every year the family grows 2 rice crops, each harvest yields 2.5-3 quintals/acre. The forestry land is also good, so timber trees are harvested very quickly. Yet now, Everything has become a thing of the past. All three of my children and I had to evacuate everywhere, the fields were abandoned, the house collapsed, and because life was difficult, my wife left, leaving me with two children small…”.
As for Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, Deputy Secretary of the Party Cell, Head of the 10/10 Village Front Working Committee, Ms. Thuy’s family had more than 40 hectares of acacia planted in 2010 and 2014. By 2017, the authorities had inspected it. Count and develop a compensation plan with an approved unit price of over 3 billion VND. However, to date, no compensation has been received.
“Acacia is past its prime but is within the counted area, so it cannot be exploited. If we calculate the value, my family’s acacia forest alone is worth many billions of dong. Now the fear of forest fires and thieves coming in to exploit them is always constant, making people feel like they are sitting on fire day and night, worrying about their property,” said Ms. Thuy.
Standing in the middle of a vast field that had been bought by sims and covered with weeds in Dong Dong village, Ms. Le Thi Bay pointed at the collapsed houses and the acacia forests running far away and said: “The area This was originally a very prosperous village, but just because it was in planning, there was no investment in the irrigation system, causing this area to gradually become “a killing field like this!”.
Struggling with a “stagnant” project?
It is known that since 2007, the entire Dong Dong village area and part of 10/10 village have been in the Dong Dong reservoir planning area. In 2012, the People’s Committee of Quang Ninh province decided to approve the 1/5000 scale construction plan. In 2015, the Provincial People’s Committee approved the investment policy of the Dong Dong reservoir construction project, with a total investment of 500 billion VND, to be implemented in 2 communes Binh Dan and Van Yen (Van Don).
The project is implemented on an area of over 600 hectares, affecting 110 households and 1 organization. The goal of the project is to build a dam to create a source of fresh water for the water plant to supply Doan Ket – Binh Dan urban area, Cai Rong urban area, tourist areas and Van Hoa port area. Initially, the project was invested by 389 Mountain Lake Construction Investment Joint Stock Company (389 Company). The implementation of compensation and site clearance will be implemented from 2017.
However, on July 1, 2021, the Van Don Economic Zone Management Board signed an implementation contract with the new investor of the project, Van Don Sun Company. The investor is responsible for implementing and paying site clearance compensation according to the signed time…
According to information from the Van Don District People’s Committee office, the contract implementation deadline between the Provincial Economic Zone Management Board and Van Don Solar Joint Stock Company has expired on January 15, 2024. The local government has proposed to the competent authority to consider revoking or deploying to respond to voters and local people.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Minh, Chief of Office of the Economic Zone Management Board of Quang Ninh province, said: “The recommendations of the local government and people have been received by the Provincial Economic Zone Management Board. Currently being considered, Work with relevant parties to clarify difficult issues and problems. Whether to revoke or extend the project contract must be based on current legal regulations…”.
We hope that the government and functional agencies will promptly have a solution to support people in the above project area, ensuring conditions for economic development and stable life.
Nghe An: Project land is abandoned, people lack production land
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