AGRARIAN ADMINISTRATION

BINH THUAN AGRARIAN ADMINISTRATION

WITH INDUSTRIALIZATION AND MODERNZATION

In the new period, the country is accelerating industrialization and modernization. More than ever, it is required that planning and construction must be urgent and of high quality. lt is important that planning, priority projects selection and areas of investment must be correct to be able to mobilize capitals and produce early results. Moreover, planning and construction must observe regulations, views, environment and sustainable growth. The past years, the Binh Thuan Agrarian Administration has always taken these requirements as guidance for its works. The Binh Thuan Agrarian Administration is aware that reasonable agrarian structure is very important to the provincial economic industrialization and modernization. On the one hand, it is necessary to select areas and priority of development in order to give impetus to economic development, avoid lagging behind compared with other provinces and integrate with the Southern pivotal development area where favorable conditions exist for economic growth, investment attraction and integration. On the other hand, orientation for stable economic development should be denied base on the advantages and potentials of the province's different areas.

Adherence to the State and Government policies, the Binh Thuan Agrarian Administration has renovated its working methods and guidance and applied new technology progress in order to fulfill its tasks and give momentum for the coming years.

The implementation of the provincial policies and objectives for the 2005-2010 period requires the Binh Thuan Agrarian Administration to leap for- ward. The Agrarian Administration is receiving new technology for survey and agrarian mapping based on air photography and applying new scientific and technical progress as well as informaties realistically to process and supply date of resources and environment for future development projection and for local production guidance. In Service of the provision of agricultural and rural land - use - rights certificates, measurement has been made on 4,473.5 ha out of the total 13,998 ha, equivalent to 31.96% of plan.

In regard to the Binh Thuan Agrarian Administration, most people remember the Agrarian Administration Survey and Archives Center as the right arm of the Agrarian Administration. ln the last decade, the Center walked arm in arm with District and Communal Agrarian Administrations, beautifying the features of the Agrarian Administration as a whole.

ln assistance to districts to measure and map for provision of land - use - rights certificates, the Agrarian Administration Department set the Center a task of measuring 3,000 ha so that it has the initiative to talk and sign work contract with districts. Besides, the Department has paid attention to land measuring and mapping for projects and socio - economic development works of the province.

ln the first 6 months of this year, 1,554 ha were measured and mapped for projects such as the project for agricultural diversification (small rubber plantations) in 2 villages of the Gia Hung commune, Tanh Linh district; the project for a coastal tourist area in the communes of Chi Cong and Binh Thanh, Tuy Phong district; additional land for military use, the Phan Thiet city cemetery; the Bung Mu shrimp nursery area, Tuy Phong district, the Ham Thuan Bac experimental aquatic nursery area, the first phase of the mapping for tourist development in the accordance with the Provincial People Committee's Notification N^o 16 TB/BBT-XDCB Of March 5, 2003, where in 402 ha between the Mui Ne precinct of the Phan Thiet city and border guard No 436 in the Hoa Thang Commune, Bac Binh district were measured.

In the same time, the Center made agrarian mapping in different scales 1,390 ha out of the total 31,459 ha, equivalent to 4.42%; checked and made technical files for 494 ha, edited 115 maps, established 12,818 technical plot files and 7,751 records defining plots boundary. Currently the Department is doing on - site survey to make plan for measurement and agrarian mapping of the Xuan An and Phu Tai precincts ofthe Phan Thiet city.

Provision of land - use - rights certificates:

In line with the province's plan for 1,84.609 ha in targets have been set for every district and checking by the 63 Board has been made regularly. But results have been low, since the beginning of the year only reports have been filed for the Provincial People's committee to grant 1 0 land - use - rights certificates to 2 collective forests owners: the Management Board of the Da Mi protective forest and the Management Board of the Song Quao protective forest, on 58,123.87 ha, equivalent to 31.48%. It was planned that in the last 6 months of this year reports would make to the Provincial People’s Commiuee to grant land - use - rights certificates to 7 collective forest owners and they a the Tri An protective forest management Board, the Đinh river plantation, the Đuc Linh plantation, the Ham Thuan plantation, the Bac Binh plantation, the Ham Thuan Bac plantation and the Ca Giay protective forest Management Board. Beside the provision of land - use - rights certificates for collective forest owners, in the first 6 months of this year the Ham Tan district provided 554.44 ha of forest land for households and individuals in the district.

Also in the first 6 months of this year, the Agrarian Administration Department checked and submitted 108 files to the provincial People's Committee to grant or rent 6,586,572 ha. According to preliminary district reports, in the first 6 months of this of year, 858 file were checked and submitted to authorities to grant land - use rights certificates, 73 files for changes of land - use and 55 files for changes of plant structure.

With respect to land grant ethnic People, the Department has paid great attention to guidance. ln the first 6 months of this year, as a result, 1,838.7 ha were granted for 1,295 households, concentrated mainly in the districts of Duc Linh, Tanh Linh, Tuy Phong, Ham Tan and Bac Ham Thuan.

Land - use planning:

The Department has submitted to the Provincial People's Committee for approval plans for land ~ use in the districts of Ham Thuan Bac and Bac Binh and is completing plans for the districts of Ham Thuan Nam, Phan Thiet and Phu Quy. The Department has had the approval of district People's Committee on plans for 7 communes and is carrying out planning for 25 out 30 communes selected for 2003. To help districts and towns with basis to carry out works for communes, the Department submitted to the provincial People's Committee for approval, at the beginning of this year, the 2003 land ~ use plan for communes based on district reports. Under the Department's supervision and guidance, all district and town Agrarian Administration timely have advised the district and town People's Committees to hand over the 2003 land - use plan to the communes of Tuy Phong, Bac Binh, Ham Tan and the city of Phan Thiet. In the soil transformation, "turn pebbles and stones into agricultural land" of the Binh Thuan people, the contributions of the Department were not small. 372.78 out of 7,417.07 ha have been reclaimed for agricultural production and 658 out of 1,154 ha barren land have been changed to forestry.

Moreover, the Department has worked with the provincial Military Command and the Provincial Public Security Administration to continue planning for the uses of land reserved for defense. Cooperation between the Department and other functional administrations has gone smoothly for the measuring and boundary defining of Land assigned for defense at the Ho Cut - Tien Thanh area. The registration for additional land in 2003 was done promptly to report to the provincial People's Committee for approval.

The Department has the responsibility to investigate settle accusations a. well as to give advise on the settlement of land disputes. Based on the investigation program for 2003, right from the beginning of the year the Department has carried out investigation on the land uses of the Lien Huơng town, of the Tuy Phong district, and the accusations o the people in the Ham Kiem commune of the Ham Thuan Nam district. ln all seriousness and impartiality, the Department found out several house holds registering a number of land plots in reserved residential areas while the local land resource was limited. lt was clearly authorized land grants or transfers. The investigation team making reports to submit to the Provincial People's Committee. In Ham Kien commune, found out land transfer tax evasion on 4,343 square meters, wrong land grants of 20,727 square meters and grants exceeding limits to a total of 17,724 square meters. Every fraudulent hectare was headache for the Department's investigators. More that anybody they understand that land should be used reasonably and according to plan. Results of investigation have been reported to the Provincial People's Committee for guidance and decision The investigation teams N^o 951 and N^o 952 continuing cheek up on the use of land in the province's planned pivotal tourist areas. ln addition to investigation by the Department, district and town Agrarian Administration have made investigation, 409 violations have been recorded. According to incomplete reports, district and town People's Committee have made decisions on 177 cases, fines of 138,800,000 dongs and recovery of 72 ha.

Today, land is gold. Land dispute between households and compensation complains have become almost daily. In parallel with regular schedules of people's reception, the Agrarian Administration Department have sent officials to receive people at the provincial citizen receiving rooms. ln the first 6 months of 2003, provincial, district and town Agrarian Administration received 160 complains, of which 8 were passed on from the previous year. The Agrarian Administration Department has settle (84 complains, sent on to other authorities 23 complains, returned 35 com plains and checked on 35 complains and checked on 35 complains.

Existing limitations disturb the Agrarian Administration Department’s personnel. The result achieved in the first 6 months were very limited compared with the needs, especially in land measurement and granting of land - use rights certificate. Planning for land uses at communal level has been too slow.

The Agrarian Administration Department's personnel are aware of the difficulties they are facing. Too much works remain to do. Beside work according to plans they have to perform accidental works also. Human strength has its limits but time allowed to accomplish the works can not be lengthened. In spite of their utmost efforts, they could not fill in the gap between works and personnel. Furthermore, the large part of communal Agrarian Administration personnel a number of the Agrarian Administration course opened by the province and are preparing for final exams. Specialized personnel and organizations under the Department's responsibilities have not paid sufficient attention to supervise, check and find measures to accomplish the local works. Measurement contract have been signed but not implemented for many months. The provincial an district 163 Boards have not functioned regularly. The time spared for provision of forest land -use - rights documents has been too little. Specialist teams have worked half - heartedly and files checking has been wanting of concentration. The half - hearted attitudes of a number, of forest collective owners on cooperation with the Agrarian Administration to establish files for land - use - rights certificates also created obstacles to the Department.

Well aware the importance of a administration system of property owners certifications in this period of time, the National Assembly and the Government intended to push up property ownership certification, especially residential, agricultural and forest area in order to guarantee the lawful rights of land users, for the following objectives.

- To shorten processing time for land - use - rights certificates.

- To create legal data base with complete information on land plots, land uses and land users to assist agrarian administration activities related to transfer, collateral security, land use change and land users.

- To minimize time for statistic and data finding.

- To improve procedures for land use rights certificate application by intercommunication with the people via the internet or intranet (when condition allow)

Base on the results made and overcoming difficulties to fulfill the tasks and obligations of an agrarian administration body, the Department's leaders adheres closely to the guidance of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee and give them timely advises to make guiding documents for local agrarian administration. District and town Agrarian Administration offices should make 1 working plans with communes, review the areas that need land - use - rights certificates but have not been measured and mapped and remeasure the areas that had been measured but changed greatly. The Agrarian Administration Survey and Archives Center should concentrate forces to accelerate local measure meats, implement signed contracts immediately and complete the measurement and mapping of 3,000 ha of agricultural land by the end of this year as targeted. The Directive Boards and the Land -use - rights Certificate Councils at Communal level should be upgraded. The advisory rote of communal agrarian administrative cadres should be hightened. The district and town agrarian administrative offices should advise the People’s Committees to take disciplinary measures against irresponsible or mistakes - committed cadres.

The Agrarian Administration Department can not fulfill the tasks alone. It needs supports of competent authorities, such as the Agriculture and Rural Development Department, the Forest guard Department and the Finance and Prices Department. The works of the Agrarian Administration Department would be much facilitated in time is given to cadres assigned to the 163 specialist team work full - time at the Department to check files of collection forest owners. The Department requires leaders of district and town agrarian administrations, specialized and other bodies under its responsibilities to strictly implement the mechanism communication and report. The Planning Body of the Department has the responsibility to supervise and make integrated reports to the Department's director.

Nobody can deny the very important role the Agrarian Administration Department plays in the Binh Thuan Province's plans and orientations to awake the provincial potentials for today and tomorrow./.

 Thuy Duong