VietNamNet Bridge – About VND3 trillion (US$144 million) will be allocated to speed up the issuance of land use right certificates nationwide this year.

Land-use-right certificates, also known as red books, are required in any land-related transaction or as a deposit for bank loans.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang said on national TV on Sunday that the money, along with a revised policy to have the job done by the end of this year, has been proposed to the Government.

The sum would be spent mostly on supporting localities to measure and record land data – a base for authorities to grant individuals or organisations land-use-right certificates.

For a long time, land-use certificates were granted slowly, because of poor land recording, management or even corruption. Without land-use right certificates, land users face many difficulties in buying and selling and getting compensation if land is taken for public purposes.

In 2011, the Government asked local authorities nationwide to improve their work on granting certificates related to land-use rights and asset-on-land ownership. Last year, the National Assembly also had a resolution on the issue.

Accordingly, this year is expected to see the completion of the certificate issuance, Quang said, adding that as many as six million land-use-right certificates will be granted this year, bringing the total number of granted certificates to 44 million.

Until now, about 38 million certificates have been granted.

Out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide, 18 reportedly have nearly completed their work on granting such certificates, including Dong Thap, An Giang, Long An, Vinh Long, Ben Tre, Bac Lieu and Binh Duong.

Meanwhile, 45 other localities have not done the work; 11 provinces have less than 7 per cent of their land certificated.

Minister Quang said that difficulties in accurately tracking the history of land use and cumbersome administrative procedures have slowed down the issuance process.

He also admitted that poor performance of staff in charge of granting certificates annoyed many applicants.

However, he said, many localities had faced a personnel shortage while there were few policies to encourage the other overworked staff. He proposed to extract part of the fee involved to support these people.

“Meanwhile, any land officers who are found to delay granting certificates for eligible applicants will be strictly punished,” he said. “Granting land-use certificates is a key task this year.”

The head of the Natural Resources and Environment Department of central Nghe An Province’s Anh Son District, Dang Binh Luc, said that nearly 3,000 households in three communes of Tho Son, Binh Son and Long Son had yet to get land-use right certificates because of poor land records.

He said some people had understated their land area in order to avoid paying land taxes, plus the capacity and responsibility of local land officers was still limited and the locality also faced financial shortages.

A local resident, Nguyen Cong Nam, said he had lived in the district’s Long Son Commune for over 40 years and had applied for a land use certificate many times but had yet to get one.

He said that local land officers had gone to his home to measure the land area many times but no further move was taken.

“If I had a land-use right certificate, I would deposit it to get a bank loan to buy a truck for goods transportation,” he said.

Last year, about 4.3 million land-use-right certificates were granted, double the number of certificates granted in 2010 and 2011.

Source: VNS