Legislators suggest appropriate compensation for land recovery

Lawmakers on Thursday proposed compensation levels that are close to market prices for land recovery by the state.

At a group discussion on the draft revised Land Law as part of the National Assembly’s ongoing session, Associate Prof. Pham Khanh Phong Lan, head of the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Management Board, said that the state should only recover land for national defense and security purposes, not for socio-economic development.

“In fact, the majority of land-related lawsuits that affected security and social order as well as eroded people’s trust, were derived from land recovery for socio-economic purposes," she said.

Compensation levels were low while land prices continuously increased thanks to improved infrastructure, negatively impacting those who had lost their property, she explained.

“Therefore, the state should facilitate an agreement between businesses and people regarding land prices,” she noted.

In cases of necessary land recovery, the state should offer compensation levels commensurate with market prices, she added, stressing the bill needs to be designed to pave the way for a fair society where people lose the least.

Echoing Lan, Associate Prof. Tran Hoang Ngan, assistant to the HCMC Party Committee Secretary, also proposed the state minimize land recovery for socio-economic development purposes and instead, develop a negotiation mechanism between businesses and land owners.

“In cases of land recovery for socio-development projects, farming land should be the choice. Recovery of non-agriculture and residential land should be limited," he noted.

Delegate Le Huu Tri representing from the south-central province of Khanh Hoa said the draft law needs to specify criteria and conditions for cases of state land recovery.

"The current law does not specify criteria for land recovery, so many localities abuse their power in acquiring land, especially agricultural land, affecting farmers," he told the legislative body.

According to Tri, compensation levels remain low, failing to guarantee the livelihoods of those that lost their land. Authorities have also not paid attention to creating jobs for these groups.

Sharing the above views, delegate Tran Quoc Tuan from the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, said a negotiation mechanism between land owners and businesses is necessary. Privately-invested projects must assess the social impact of land recovery, ensuring transparency to avoid stirring up public concern.

Showing a different viewpoint, Prof. Hoang Van Cuong, vice president of National Economics University, said that there are two ways to recover land: one is done by the state and the other by negotiation between businesses and land owners with state recognition.

“The state often offers low compensation levels compared to those of enterprises, causing inequality," he analyzed, saying that land belongs to the people and is managed by the state on behalf of the owners. Therefore, land recovery should be conducted by the state instead of via investor-owner negotiation.

According to Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha, it is difficult to specify criteria for land recovery in service of socio-economic development. Therefore, he hoped legislators would contribute their ideas to the drafting board in order to perfect the bill.

"Land will be recovered only when the planned project is proven to be in service of the nation," said Ha.

The draft revised Land Law is expected to be approved by the Vietnamese legislature after three sittings, with the first slated for November 14.