VietNamNet Bridge – Two top officials of Lao Cai City and province will attend court on Tuesday as defendants of a land eviction lawsuit filed by a resident.

Lao Cai City in northern Lao Cai Province. — VNA/VNS Photo

Pham Thi Nghia, a resident of Lao Cai City’s Kim Tan Ward, filed a lawsuit against the committees’ decisions on land eviction and compensation after her family was evicted from the land they were living on since 1984 without allegedly being given “proper compensation”.

On Tuesday, Le Minh Quang, chairman of the northern Lao Cai City People’s Committee, and Dang Xuan Phong, chairman of Lao Cai Province People’s Committee, are both expected to attend court.

On June 19, 2014, the Lao Cai City People’s Committee issued three land acquisition decisions concerning the families of Pham Thi Nghia, Pham Van Kha and Pham Thi Nga in Kim Tan Ward, Lao Cai City.

Soon after, it also issued a decision on the compensation awarded to the three families. However, the evicted families did not find the deal offered by the chairmen of the city and the province people’s committees acceptable.

According to the provincial People’s Committee, the land the three families were using was allocated to the province’s transport department in 1992. However, the three families alleged that when they claimed the land in 1984, no authorities told them about the land allocation.

Moreover, the families were granted land-use right certificates in 1984 and in 2000, which had the signatures and seals of the chairmen of Dong Tuyen Commune, Lao Cai Town – now known as Kim Tan Ward, Lao Cai City.

Unclear land origins, land mismanagement and improper compensation are said to be the major causes for land disputes in Viet Nam. Land-related issues account for 70 per cent of the complaints made by residents to state/government bodies. 

VNS