Why is Quang Ngai City offering such low compensation for land acquisition?

Specifically, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quảng Ngãi City signed a contract with the Đà Nẵng-based Financial Services and Financial Consulting Company to determine the specific land price for compensation in the event of land retrieval for the Dập Dâng Hạ Lưu River Project.

A total of 60 plots of land, measuring 6,452 square meters, located on maps number 9 and 10 in Tịnh An, Quảng Ngãi City, required land price determination. The assessment company applied the comparison method for this process.

The Land Registration Office – Quảng Ngãi City Branch provided the assessment company with several land transfer contracts, including plots of land 439 (with an area of 100.9 square meters), plot 632 (115 square meters), and plot 633 (126.2 square meters). These plots are located on maps 21 and 20, respectively, in Tịnh An, Quảng Ngãi City, and had transfer values of VND 80 million for plot 439 and VND 100 million each for plots 632 and 633, as per the contracts.

Based on the transfer values of these plots, the assessment company concluded, after calculations and comparisons, that the land price in rural area 3, position 4 (land in other positions remaining in the commune) was VND 779,000 per square meter.

According to the assessment company, at the time of the assessment (December 2024), the consultants could not collect information from areas with similar conditions to the valued assets (land fronting internal roads wider than 3m belonging to An Phú and Tân Lập villages in Ngọc Thạch village). Therefore, the consultants used information from land fronting roads between 2m and 3m wide, located in communes with many similar factors.

Interestingly, the locations of the comparative plots are all deep within the villages of Tịnh An. “These plots, as we traders jokingly say, are located in the ‘boondocks.’ Meanwhile, the land on Đảo Ngọc has a much higher value. It’s inappropriate to use land transfer contracts from low-value areas for comparison and pricing of Đảo Ngọc land. These two locations have vastly different market values,” said Mr. Nguyễn Vũ, a long-time land trader in Tịnh An.

Mr. Vũ also shared that before the People’s Committee of Quảng Ngãi Province directed an inspection into the land division on Đảo Ngọc, land transactions there were very “hot,” with an average market price of VND 500-600 million per residential plot (with an area of 100 square meters or more).

“However, after the inspection was ordered, land transactions in this area have been unjustifiably halted for several months,” Mr. Vũ added.

According to a valuation expert, one of the fundamental principles of land valuation is to conduct investigations, surveys, and information gathering about the land or area to be valued. Additionally, according to Clause 1, Article 158 of the 2024 Land Law, the valuation company must value the land based on market principles, ensuring the legitimate rights of residents whose land has been retrieved.

“Investigations, surveys, and information gathering in this context refer to collecting market information and land prices in the area where the valuation is desired,” the expert explained. “However, it is unclear why Quảng Ngãi City chose an assessment company based in Đà Nẵng. This company may not be familiar with local nuances and may not realize that Đảo Ngọc land values differ from those in the villages, even though they are in the same commune. This approach may not guarantee a market-based assessment.”

The expert further emphasized that since Đảo Ngọc has not had any land transactions for several months, the assessment company should have utilized alternative methods to ensure fairness for residents whose land has been retrieved and to protect the interests of the state…

As reported by Báo Người Lao Động, many households whose land has been retrieved for the Dập Dâng Hạ Lưu River Project are frustrated by the compensation rate of only VND 779,000 per square meter, while the resettlement land costs VND 8.2 million per square meter. These residents have to pay hundreds of millions of dong in differences, and most of them are farmers, workers, etc.