Hanoi (VNA) – All the land in the MieuMon airfield, the focus of a land dispute in Hanoi a few months ago, is defenceland and has been used for defence purposes by military units, the Hanoiinspectorate said on July 24.

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This is part of the conclusion of acomprehensive inspection on the management, use and handling of the Mieu Monairfield’s land area within the administrative boundary of Dong Tam commune, MyDuc district.

The land area in the Mieu Mon airfield was atthe heart of a land scandal in Dong Tam in late March and mid-Aprilwhen 38 civil servants and some police officers were held hostage by localresidents. Locals were protesting what they considered as unjustified revokingof land where they had built homes and lived for many years.

According to the inspection’s conclusion, theairfield has a total area of 236.7 ha as measured by the measurement agency ofthe Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on June 21. The figure was up28.7 hectares from the area specified in the Prime Minister’s Decision 113/TTgdated April 14, 1980.

The increased area of 28.7 ha is part of the31.9 ha of land affected by construction activities in Chuong My district. Thearea, which is not suitable for agricultural production, is included in thephase II planning for the Mieu Mon airfield. It was handed over to theEngineering Arms High Command by the Luong My State-run Farm.

Among the 236.7 ha of the Mieu Mon airfieldarea, 64.03 ha are within the administrative boundary of Dong Tam commune.

The Hanoi inspectorate said since 1981, thewhole area of the Mieu Mon airfield in Dong Tam commune has been managed bydefence units. However, the defence units and the Dong Tam communal People’sCommittee showed laxity in management for a long time.

The defence units had signed annual contractswith the Dong Tam communal People’s Committee on using the land forcultivation. The contract expired in 2012, but local residents are stillconducting agricultural activities on the area. The defence units also failedto move some households who settled down in the defence land since before 1980,letting the households encroach on more land, illegally build structures ortransfer land to others without taking prompt measures to stop.

The Dong Tam communal People’s Committee alsoshowed mismanagement, resulting in unlicensed construction in the defence land.From 2003 to 2010, it also certified dossiers for land inheritance, presentationand transfer submitted by the households using the defence land, which was notwithin its jurisdiction and violated legal regulations on land management.

In February 2017, some citizens measured anddivided some land area of the Mieu Mon airfield on which the military-runtelecom group Viettel was carrying out a defence project. Although the Dong Tamcommunal People’s Committee informed those citizens that this was defence landand asked the citizens not to violate law, some persons still intentionallyused machinery to illegally divide land and build structures.

These activities defied the law, seriously violatedClause 1 of Article 12 of the 2013 Land Law, and flouted social order andsafety, the Hanoi inspectorate said.

In its conclusion, the inspectorate also clarified the rightand the wrong in local residents’ denunciations relating to the land area.

Based on the inspection conclusion, the municipal People’sCommittee has instructed the My Duc district’s People’s Committee and relatedagencies to annul documents certifying land sales and inheritance issuedillegally by Dong Tam commune People’s Committee and strictly punish involvedofficials. In term of Party disciplinary measures, eight officials have beenexpelled from the Party, six received warning, and five were reprimanded.Regarding administrative measures, 12 officials were given warning, one wasreprimanded and one was sacked. My Duc district police has launched legalproceedings against 14 suspects and detained two former officials of Dong Tamcommunal administration for investigation.

The municipal inspectorate proposed that the Hanoi People’sCommittee send written requests to the Defence Ministry on tighteningmanagement of defence land, including the Mieu Mon airfield land, and takingmeasures to take back defence land that is being leased, lent, occupied or soldillegally.

The municipal People’s Committee was also urged to instructthe municipal police to coordinate with the Defence Ministry’s criminalinvestigation agency to investigate and strictly punish law violations byrelated officials and individuals in the management and use of defence land ofMieu Mon airfield within the administrative boundary of Dong Tam commune.

The My Duc district People’s Committee was required to workwith defence units to implement strong measures to take back land from illegaluse to hand over to the Viettel group for construction of defencefacilities.-VNA