Persistent Corruption in Land Administration

 

According to case studies by the UNDP and the National Economics University, signs of land-related corruption in development investment projects engaged by both State and private sectors, a rapid-growing investment form in Vietnam.

 

Dr Nguyen Van Thang, Director of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Management under the National Economics University, said, there are two basic axes that awaken land corruption, that is to say, policy gap (especially for civil servants and local authorities) and collusion between interest groups (arising from ambiguous public and private functional conditions and the existence of public ownership and private abuse.)

 

Based on contextual analysis of projects selected for study (two urban zone construction projects, urban market rehabilitation, mineral extraction and land administration in new rural construction project - one project for each field ), research authors found out that these projects failed to meet public expectations in project nature and compensation policy; and environmental protection and restoration. People who are affected by those projects said that the disrespect of the interests of the community in these projects is also a signal of an act of corruption. What the community concerns is how costs and interests of stakeholders are allocated and whether that method of allocation reflects common interests of the community? Although the new rural area construction project met community aspirations but it failed to meet policy requirements and expectations of higher authorities (district and provincial governments).

He said, corruption risks that arise from infrastructure development projects are huge, seriously affect the public and proliferate in public-private partnership (PPP) in infrastructure construction and mineral extraction projects.

“Businesses and officials collude to do corrupt acts or disable policies in tendering and exploitation processes. They collude to rewrite policies for the sake of their benefits, e.g. the local government introduces policies beneficial to target groups. Businesses are forced, or are willing, to pay informal costs. Businesses and authorities discuss how to share benefits from their acts. This is a cause of corruption in the land sector ", Mr Thang said.

Thus, just a “handshake” between businesses and corrupt officials will give a slip to public interests. Interlaced interest groups control all stages from planning, bidding information and policy. Eventually, lay people - the agent and centre of benefiting from development process receives a “cannot-be-cheaper” compensation value and lose livelihoods because of no land in hand.

It is noteworthy that, in these cases, the commodity is not consulted or consulted in the face only.

Before this reality, researchers recommended several measures to improve the efficiency of State administration of land resources at the local level and minimise corruption in the land sector.

Accordingly, the State must require investors to establish their projects using so-called open approaches, and require them to consult representatives of the people and communities in every stage of projects. Policymakers can refer to international experience and try open project designing forms in Vietnam. Designing open projects allows people to discuss project establishment, project design and project budget allocation and project implementation monitoring. Policy support of the government and technical support of donors is fundamental to the success of opening mechanism at the project level.

Furthermore, the public should be provided with an opportunity to join with local authorities in land planning and development. To do this, the legal system relating to land and project management must include mandatory regulations on acceptance of people's opinions. Last but not least, the Law on Anticorruption needs to give priority to preventing acts of linking enterprises and officials in pressing spheres such as land and investment.