VietNamNet Bridge – The media showed great interest in the compilation of the draft Law on the Land and on the effect hydro-electric power plants had on residents' lives at the annual conference of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment last Friday in Ha Noi.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Manh Hien said that the ideas behind six million suggestions made by the public had been included in the draft law.

More than one million focused on land revoking regulations and compensation for resettlement.

Deputy Director of the General Department of Land Administration Dao Trung Chinh said that many people wanted detailed regulations on any future land revocations.

"We do not have clear regulations on the issue," he said.

Local authorities lack any legal basis to push land revocation. And some local leaders are reported to have taken advantage of their positions to harm the legal rights of land owners, said Chinh. Many people worried that if farm land was revoked without any compensation deal, how the former owner manage to survive and find a new job.

Correspondents also mentioned drought in central and Central Highland provinces where a number of hydro-electricity plants, including Ba Ha River, Buon Tua Sar and Dak Mi 4, changed their water flows and discharged less water than they had pledged.

The ministry said owners of the hydro plants, authorities at different levels and many relevant agencies were together responsible.

Le The Son, deputy director of the Viet Nam Environment Administration, said the plants' projects were managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the plants' environmental impact assessment was managed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and local authorities.

"The first responsibility belongs to hydro-electric plant project owners as they have not implemented an environmental impact assessment," said Son.

Source: VNS