Ministry says to fix Land Law conundrums

The Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has promised businesses it will set right land-related ?violations? committed by local governments.
At a meeting with the ministry Wednesday in Ho Chi Minh City, 400 entrepreneurs complained that local authorities had been enforcing the Land Law arbitrarily, affecting their operations.
Some firms grumbled about the fact that they could not obtain bank loans without ownership documents for the land to be used for their projects. Such documents are issued only after they pay for acquiring the entire land plot they propose to use and not piecemeal. This means that even after buying, for instance, 90% of the land they need for their project, they cannot get ownership documents for that portion.
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Hung Vo admitted this was a ?violation? of the law. He said ownership certificates had to be issued piece by piece as companies had paid compensation. ?It is clearly stated in the Land Law,? Vo said.
A company said it had rented a 4,100 square meter land plot in the southern province of Dong Nai, and had received an ownership certificate for 50 years. But in June this year, the local government, the Dong Nai People?s Committee, claimed it had only allowed the firm to lease the plot for four years.
?What Dong Nai did was totally wrong,? Vo said. He promised to contact the province officials to rectify the mistake.
At the meeting, property companies also complained about the confusion over ownership certificates for land and structures put up on the land, saying it affected their operations.
They said, as a result, they were unable to sell houses and land to customers after failing to get ownership certificates.
Vo said they had to wait since the problem remained unresolved.
?In September, the Prime Minister decided to come up with a single certificate for both land and house ownership, but, recently, some officials said it was necessary to have both single and dual certificate systems,? he said.
?The National Assembly [the country?s legislative body] will discuss the issue at its current session and then the government will make a final decision,? he said.

 

Category: Legal