Farmers receive land back as projects turn sluggish

Authorities in Long An Province have cancelled many projects that have failed to progress and returned some 500 hectares of land that they have previously revoked from farmers to its original owners.

Authorities in the Mekong Delta province of Long An have recently cancelled many projects that have failed to progress over the last few years in order to return some 500 hectares of land that they have previously revoked from farmers to its original owners.

Farmer Nguyen Van Ai removes weed on his paddy field which used to be zoned to give way to a golf course project in Thu Thua District of the Mekong Delta province of Long An

In 2008 the province angered farmers as it decided to provide 280 hectares of land zoned for agricultural production to golf course developers.

The investors, however, failed to begin their construction work, forcing the province to pull the plug on their projects. And farmers, consequently, were set to get their paddy fields back.

Every farmer is happy with the cancelation of the golf course project, they told Tuoi Tre.
Tieu Thi Thanh, whose 6,000-sqm paddy field in Thu Thua District was planned to be given to the golf course, said she had been extremely displeased by the news of the seizure.

The authorities said she was not allowed to make any changes on the land plot, even if it was to build a new house for her son, she recalled.

“I was still growing paddy on the land after being informed of the decision, but was constantly concerned as I didn’t know when they would reclaim the land, and what I would do and where I would stay then,” said Thanh.

But Thanh and hundreds of other farmers are now happy, as the project has been canceled.

“I no longer have to worry about when the land will be reclaimed,” shared Thanh.

Other cases

Long An has revoked a number of sluggish projects and returned land to farmers over the last few years, according to the provincial Department of Planning and Investment.

In 2009 it pulled the plug on 11 projects, returning a total of 532 hectares of land to farmers. The province went on to cancel another 534 hectares from 13 projects a year later, and 565 hectares in 2011.

In the first half of this year alone local authorities revoked 21 projects, giving 1,450 hectares of land back to farmers.

The projects were canceled as they had either failed to progress or had faced opposition fromlocal farmers, the department said.

The department’s deputy director, Le Cong Dinh, said the province is reviewing all of the projects in the locality to decide whether they will be allowed to continue or not.
“We will meet with the investors and work together for a solution,” he said, adding the province will limit the reclamation of land zoned for agricultural production.