The issues were discussed after NA deputies heard an appraisal report presented by the Committee for Economy and State Budget on land use issues in the past five years, as well as land use planning for the 2006 - 2010 period.
According to the Government report, only 27 out of 64 cities and provinces created land use plans for 2000-2005.
A majority of land use planning done by local authorities is not yet in accord with the revised Land Law which came into effect in 2003.
The shortcomings, NA deputies were told, caused a number of problems and resulted in poor planning and management of land.
While drawing up temporary land use plans, a number of cities and provinces were overzealous in allotting land to industrial zones and export processing zones, effectively wasting several thousand hectares of agricultural land and putting farmers out of business.
"Because of poor planning, a number of export processing zones and industrial zones have only one hectare to operate on, while hundreds of hectares of land earmarked for export processing and industrial zones a decade ago lies unused," said Yen Bai deputy Nguyen Van Tuyet.
Long An delegate Dang Van Xuong showed proof that the proportion of land used by export processing and industrial zones in his southern province of Long An was far less than the nation’s average rate.
Xuong said many provinces were unable to rent their land after it was earmarked for industrial zones because investors complained rent was too high. As a result, the firms sought land outside of industrial zones to do business more cheaply.
He attributed the low proportion of operational land at industrial zones to a failure in land use planning, and said previous planners made their decisions on practical grounds but not on investors’ needs.
"In the outlying district of Tu Liem, there is a lot of land earmarked for projects. While each hectare can produce several hundreds of million dong each year, a lot of land is planned out and used incorrectly," added Binh Phuoc delegate Nguyen Kim Khanh.
In an attempt to avoid inefficiency in land use, deputies agreed it was necessary to make changes to land use planning.
Tuyet said the Government needed to increase disciplinary measures in land use management. One regulation, for instance, that makes it a necessity to extend land lease contracts and retrieve unused land after three years has not been strictly implemented.
Publicising the need for land use planning and increasing people’s awareness of land laws were also emphasised as priorities.
Binh Thuan delegate Ma Dien Cu pointed out that the country neither publicises land use planning nor the problems that arise from it. Therefore, he suggested, offices need to publicise legal documents about planning, creating transparency in the process.
"It is necessary to publicise planning in a substantial way rather than in formality. Land should be revoked if necessary," said delegate Nguyen Van Xuong.
To address the problem at its root, Son La delegate Dinh Thi Ninh suggested that the NA and People’s Councils regularly supervise land use planning and punish violators. She also agreed with Cu’s opinion about a necessity to publicise land use planning.
Most importantly, Ninh said, the Government should provide funds to help the remaining cities and provinces set up land use planning offices.
"Without funds many provinces would not be able to set up offices in a proper and official way."
The Government report also put forward measures that would strengthen management over land use planning. The report stressed that it was necessary to retrieve land which was allotted or rented but has not been used effectively, or is being used for the wrong purpose.
The Government also set a June 30, 2007 time-limit for settling ‘suspended’ planning projects.
Other issues including development goals for the agriculture sector were also tabled at the NA session.
Vietnam News