Ministry requests Quang Nam to review road construction in forest

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked central Quang Nam province to review the location of a project to build a road to Ngoc Linh ginseng development area in Nam Tra My district, which occupies more than 25 hectares of natural forest.

In the document sent to the provincial People’s Committee, the ministry said the Mang Lung – Dak Lay road project to the Ngoc Linh ginseng development area was not eligible for appraisal.

In March 2020, the provincial People’s Committee asked the ministry to seek the Government’s permission to change the land use purpose of 26.5 hectares of natural forest to build the road in Nam Tra My district.

The road was part of a project on the conservation and development of Ngoc Linh ginseng approved by the Government in 2015.

In reply to the province’s proposal, the ministry said the province’s submitted documents had not been updated according to the size of the project area, which increased by 8.9 hectares.

The project’s environmental impact assessment report, approved by the provincial People’s Committee in 2017, had a land use of 17.6 hectares instead of 26.5 hectares.

Meanwhile, in the appraisal report in 2015 of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, the land use area was only six hectares.

The ministry said the report in 2020 and the provincial People’s Committee project files were submitted more than 17 months ago.

All the reports were no longer suitable for land use planning for the 2021-2030 period.

The ministry said the legal basis for appraising the project’s application for change of land use purpose has changed.

It asked the People’s Committee of Quang Nam province to review and complete the dossier and re-implement the procedures for submitting the proposal on changing land use purposes to comply with the law.

It added that the Government had not yet approved the project’s proposal to change the land use purpose for its road construction.

According to the provincial committee’s reports, among 26.5 hectares of forest proposed to change its use purpose, 15.65 hectares of natural forest belong to the strictly protected subdivision of Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve.

Under the Government’s Decree 83, projects must not be located in the strictly protected sub-zone of special-use forests.

The ministry has asked the committee to study and review the area’s location that needs to be converted to ensure compliance with provisions of the forestry and related laws./.