VietNamNet Bridge – The Government Inspectorate (GI) has revealed land use transfer violations committed between 2003 and 2016.

The Government Inspectorate (GI) has revealed land use transfer violations committed between 2003 and 2016.– Photo laodong.vn

The inspection looked at 38 projects belonging to State agencies and businesses in Hanoi.

Poor management and land use transfer violations cost the State budget, Lao Động (Labour) newspaper reported.

The main issue was valuation manipulation. Lots are often evaluated at less than the fair market price, meaning the State loses out on fees and taxes associated with the property.

From 30 of the inspected projects, the total loss was estimated at VND1,480 billion (US $63.2 million).

Another issue is the practice of choosing investors to carry out projects without a proper bidding process.

For example, the Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh Residential Area in Thanh Xuan District had infrastructure built by the State budget fund. But in 2009, the Ha Noi’s People’s Committee revoked the land use rights and allocated them to investors who promised to complete the project but never had to bid for the rights.

This action violated State regulations.

A series of other projects had the same issues, including the developments at 167 Thuy Khue Street, 1 Phung Chi Kien Street and 365A Minh Khai Street.

The inspectors also found that the evaluation and approval process for projects had many shortcomings which forced later adjustments to the original plans. 20 of the 38 surveyed developments had construction planning and management regulation violations.

In 10 cases, investors built more buildings than were in the approved designs. These additional buildings were used as office and retail space, but the investors never paid the land use fees usually required for businesses.

Many of the inspected projects also had financial issues. The inspection showed that eight of the projects owed land use fees totaling VND1,951 billion (US $83.3 million).

Lao Động newspaper reported that after the violations were uncovered, investors paid a total of VND1,106 billion (US$47.2 million) in back fees.

The GI recommended the Government ask the municipal authority to set up measures to prevent future land use and construction violations.

The recommendation also said the city People’s Committee should issue proper sanctions to projects which were discovered to have violations. It also said the city authority should take a proactive role in urging investors to pay their fees and taxes on time to help boost the State budget.

Source: VNS