This is a common recommendation put forward by international delegates at the 8 th Dialogue on Anti-Corruption with the theme, “Anti-corruption in land administration and use” held in Hanoi on November 25.
The Dialogue on Anti-Corruption is organized twice a year by the Embassy of Sweden on behalf of Vietnam ’s development partners, the Government Inspectorate and the Office of the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption on behalf of the Vietnamese Government.
The 8 th dialogue saw the attendance of representatives from Vietnam ’s development partners and donors such as the UN, the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Embassies of Sweden, Switzerland , Denmark , New Zealand and Australia .
Sharing the expressed view, Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Staffan Herrstrom said: “We know that transparency is a fundamental and effective tool and we know that if you combine that with giving people possibilities to claim accountability very much is achieved already”.
He cited the results of a survey conducted recently by development partners, saying that more than 86 percent of the surveyed households said there is corruption in land administration and use and 33 percent of the targeted businesses said they had to give bribes in order to get certificates of land use.
According to the ambassador, law enforcement and oversight systems are still weak in Vietnam , while procedures of land use right registration are cumbersome, over-bureaucratized and only one percent of people lodging complaints are satisfied in the end. This creates an environment in which corruption can flourish, undermines the credibility of officials and decreases trust among the public at large.
Meanwhile, a representative of the Swiss Embassy emphasized the importance of the promulgation of a law on the protection of whistleblowers and enhancement of the role of mass media in discovering and reporting negative phenomena in land management and use, especially small cases in localities.
A number of delegates recommended Vietnam strengthen the oversight by people and the community over investment projects, improve the capacity of land management agencies, enhance land zoning procedures and seriously enumerate assets and incomes of officials and State employees working in this field.
On the side of the Vietnamese Government, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Chu Pham Ngoc Hien said the government had spared no efforts to build and complete a legal system and had instructed relevant ministries and agencies to join in the fight against corruption in land administration and use.
The ministry was drafting a law amending the 2003 Land Law and expected to submit it to the National Assembly for approval in 2013, he said. According to the draft of the revised law, land will be managed in line with market mechanisms, administrative procedures will be simplified and benefits of the State, people, businesses and organizations will be harmoniously addressed.
Statistics released by the Government Inspectorate show that in recent years there have been more than 100,000 land-related disputes annually, accounting for 65 percent of the total number of complaints and denouncements lodged with and reported to State agencies./.
