Livelihood must be key focus    A farmer in Ha Noi's Gia Lam District scoops water into the field. Many farmers, whose land has been revoked, struggle to adapt to their new means of livelihood and require better training provisions as well as fair compensation packages. — VNA Photo HA NOI (VNS) - Arranging settlements and new means of livelihoods for those whose land had been revoked was no less important than offering them fair compensation packages. Only when the legal framework addressed these concerns would rampant land-related legal disputes stop. Many deputies raised this point during the National Assembly's working session yesterday. Due to the importance of the Land Law to the nation's socio-economic development, the National Assembly dedicated the whole day to reviewing the draft version. Deputy Tran Ngoc Vinh from Hai Phong said the important question was that how those whose land was revoked could move on with their lives. "We have to make sure that we do not push farmers to the edge of poverty. In many cases, they suffer worse economic conditions after giving up their land," he said. Deputy Le Trong Sang from HCM City said compensation packages should not be based on the value of land alone, but also include the economic profits generated from property and livelihoods. He said that compensation policies for farmers who had their land revoked had not taken this into account. "Even in this draft, I do not see any major development. There is a provision in the draft that says that investors should ‘consider supporting' those affected." "By putting it that way, it fails to hold investors responsible for resettlements while putting those affected in the position of receiving a favour from investors rather than a legitimate right," Sang said. Deputy Truong Thi Hue from the northern province of Thai Nguyen also put great emphasis on ensuring the livelihoods of those whose land was revoked. While compensation rates for farmers were far from being fair, farmers were more concerned about how they would make a living afterwards. Hue said for economic development projects, particularly mining projects, there should be a law that stipulated a benefit-sharing mechanism that made it mandatory for research on how to create alternative jobs for those who gave up their land. Sang added that while land prices were supposed to be close to the market value, prices set by local authorities were only equal to 30 to 60 per cent of that figure. He cited Ha Noi and HCM City setting the price of one square metre of land at VND81 million, which was the highest level allowable in the Government-approved price frame. But the transaction price on the market was hundreds of million of dong per square metre. Sang said this was not only the main reason behind farmers' complaints, but also a favourable condition for corruption. He suspected the proposal to change the price from "close to market value" to " in compliance with market value" would not make any difference. "The question here is we talk about market value at which time?" Nguyen Duc Kien, deputy from the southern province of Soc Trang, said the farmers' complaints were because communication among them, investors and the State was not effective. He said it was logical to see that land value became higher when it was converted from agricultural land to industrial land or urban land because of the investment. "The farmers found the disparity unacceptable because we have not really explained why. If they are better informed about how they could benefit from such development projects, I believe they would react differently." This needs investors to be crystal clear about how farmers can benefit. Kien, who is deputy chairman of the NA's Economic Committee, said the key thing here was to see land from an industrial perspective, treating it as a national asset. "Whether you are a farmer or a factory director, you are responsible for investing in the land and once the tenure expires, you have to give it back to the State. "When you are granted the right to use it, your responsibility is to create a profit from the land. If your production is not as economical profitable as someone else's, you forfeit your right to use it," he said. Kien said when the State relocated people, it not only had to ensure decent living conditions, but also take the opportunity to introduce farmers to industrial farming practices. "It is to help them build a new lifestyle that is in compliance with industrialisation," he said. Also during the session, deputies discussed other issues such as land planning, land tenures and the maximum amount of land a farmer is permitted to own. — VNS