A piece of farmland in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. The province has seen 192 farmland lots get turned into property projects. (Photo: Vietnamplus)
The province has seen 192 farmland lots get turned into property projects, with only 62 projects having obtained licenses, according to the provincial People’s Council.
Phu My Town had the largest number of illicit property projects, at 113 projects, followed by Ba Ria City and Long Dien District.
Le Ngoc Linh, director of the provincial department, attributed the rising number of fake property projects to land fever, where traders have taken advantage of loopholes in the regulations allowing the division of agricultural land into smaller lots with a minimum area of 500 square meters, as provided for in Decision 23 of the provincial government.
Delegate Tran Phuc Chinh, head of the Economic and Budget Committee under the provincial People's Council, remarked that the decision is aimed at helping farmers share their assets with their children or sell part of their land to cover medical expenses when they get sick.
Chinh also questioned the liability of management agencies with regard to the scams and loopholes being exploited over a long period.
The People’s Council found that the registration office for land use rights had allowed the division of farmland into smaller lots but had failed to report these cases to the provincial authorities, leading to late discovery and handling.
Huynh Van Danh, secretary of Phu My Town's Party unit, reported that the town had earlier discovered the illegal farmland divisions and sales and proposed the provincial Departments of Natural Resources and Environment and of Construction resolve the issue. However, the problem was neglected.
Pham Thanh Chung, chief of the office of the delegation of the National Assembly and provincial People’s Council deputies, said that offenders did not stealthily develop infrastructure for their fake projects but had worked on these jobs publicly. They even did not conceal wrongdoing when teams arrived to conduct investigations, Chung said.
Speaking at the meeting, Tran Dinh Khoa, vice chairman of the provincial People’s Council, said that scam property projects are expected to have negative effects on residents and the province.
Seven out of eight scam property projects in Phu My Town belonged to local firm Alibaba Group, according to Ba Ria-Vung Tau police. The property company has sold over 3,000 land lots valued at VND771 billion to residents.
Illicit or fake property projects are likely to cause disputes, forcing buyers to lodge complaints with management agencies, thus causing social instability. As such, the issue must be addressed urgently.
Nguyen Hong Linh, secretary of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Party Committee and chairman of the provincial People's Council, pointed out that the existence of fake property projects and the exploitation of loopholes in farmland regulations proved that the collaboration between the competent agencies and local authorities remains poor, adding that sanctions on violators are not strict.
The provincial Party and government authorities will discuss solutions to eliminate scams related to farmland projects in the coming days, he explained.
