Circular No. 03/2014/TT-BNNPTNT guiding the implementation of Decision No. 1776/QĐ-TTg dated November 21, 2012 of the Prime Minister approving the "Program for resettling residents in areas affected by natural disasters, extremely difficult conditions, border areas, islands, spontaneous migration, special-use forests for the period 2013-2015 and orientations to 2020"

 CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Implementing Decision No. 1776/QD-TTg dated November 21, 2012 of the Prime Minister approving the "Program for Resettling Population in Areas Affected by Natural Disasters, Particularly Difficult Conditions, Border Areas, Islands, Free Migration, Specialized Forest Areas for the Period 2013-2015 and Orientations to 2020"

Pursuant to Decree No. 199/2013/NĐ-CP dated November 26, 2013 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

On the basis of Decision No. 1776/QD-TTg dated November 21, 2012 of the Prime Minister approving the "Program for Resettling Population in Areas Affected by Natural Disasters, Particularly Difficult Conditions, Border Areas, Islands, Free Migration, Specialized Forest Areas for the Period 2013-2015 and Orientations to 2020";

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Cooperative Economic and Rural Development;

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development issues this Circular guiding the implementation of Decision No. 1776/QD-TTg dated November 21, 2012 of the Prime Minister approving the "Program for Resettling Population in Areas Affected by Natural Disasters, Particularly Difficult Conditions, Border Areas, Islands, Free Migration, Specialized Forest Areas for the Period 2013-2015 and Orientations to 2020".

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular guides the implementation of planning, investment projects, resettlement plans, and mechanisms and policies stipulated in Decision No. 1776/QD-TTg dated November 21, 2012 of the Prime Minister approving the "Program for Resettling Population in Areas Affected by Natural Disasters, Particularly Difficult Conditions, Border Areas, Islands, Free Migration, Specialized Forest Areas for the Period 2013-2015 and Orientations to 2020" (hereinafter referred to as the Population Resettlement Program).

Article 2. Applicability

This Circular applies to organizations and individuals within the country related to population resettlement work according to the objects specified in point b, Clause 2, Article 1 of Decision No. 1776/QD-TTg dated November 21, 2012 of the Prime Minister.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms and Criteria for Selecting Resettlement Areas

1. Disaster-prone area (as defined in Article 3 of Law on Prevention and Control of Natural Disasters No. 33/2013/QH13): An area where natural phenomena that may cause damage to people, property, environment, living conditions, and socio-economic activities occur, including landslides along riverbanks, coastlines, floods, flash floods, debris flows, landslides, subsidence, flooding, saltwater intrusion, rising sea levels, typhoons, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other types of disasters.

2. Area with particularly difficult living conditions: An area with a high poverty rate, lack of agricultural land, lack of water for production, lack of clean water for daily use, lack of infrastructure, environmental pollution, radioactive impact; floating villages on rivers, lakes without conditions to support investment for economic and social development, improving living standards, and requiring relocation to another place.

Criteria for identifying areas with particularly difficult living conditions:

a) Poverty rate of 55% and near-poverty rate of 25% or higher;

b) Lack of agricultural land:

- In plains: More than 50% of farming households have an average agricultural land area lower than the provincial average (as per the provincial land allocation decision);

- In midlands, mountainous regions, and the Central Highlands: Average agricultural land area per household is less than 0.5 hectares (for hillside or shifting cultivation land) or 0.25 hectares (for single-crop paddy fields) or 0.15 hectares (for double-crop paddy fields).

c) Lack of water for production: Irrigation capacity only meets 50% of the irrigable land area required by households in the region or there is no irrigation system;

d) Lack of clean water for daily use: More than 30% of households do not have a sanitary water supply system that cannot be remedied or do not have access to clean water meeting the standard set out in Circular No. 05/2009/TT-BYT dated June 17, 2009 of the Ministry of Health, with a quantity of 60 liters per person per day;

đ) Lack of infrastructure: Lacking or insufficient six out of ten essential infrastructure works (Class B roads to the commune center, electricity, schools, health clinics, small-scale irrigation systems, clean water supply, cultural houses, markets, radio stations, commune offices);

Provincial People's Committees shall consider and decide on the selection of population resettlement in areas with particularly difficult living conditions based on the above criteria (at least three out of five criteria), in accordance with the socio-economic development plan and annual state budget support in their respective regions.

e) Environmental pollution (as defined in Clause 6, Article 3 of the Law on Environmental Protection No. 52/2005/QH11): A change in environmental components that does not meet environmental standards, causing adverse effects on humans and wildlife, as per National Technical Regulations on Water Quality (Surface Water) (QCVN08:2008/BTNMT issued together with Decision No. 16/2008/QĐ-BTNMT dated December 31, 2008 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment); National Technical Regulations on Groundwater Quality (QCVN09:2008/BTNMT issued together with Decision No. 16/2008/QĐ-BTNMT dated December 31, 2008 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment); National Technical Regulations on Permissible Limits of Heavy Metals in Soil (QCVN03:2008/BTNMT issued together with Decision No. 04/2008/QĐ-BTNMT dated July 18, 2008 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment); National Technical Regulations on Ambient Air Quality (QCVN05:2009/BTNMT issued together with Circular No. 16/2009/TT-BTNMT dated October 7, 2009 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment);

g) Radioactive impact: An area where surface, solid, liquid, or gas radioactive substances exceed permissible levels as stipulated in National Technical Regulation QCVN6:2010/BKHCN on Radiation Safety - Classification of Radiation Sources, adversely affecting humans and wildlife (issued together with Circular No. 24/2010/TT-BKHCN dated December 29, 2010 of the Ministry of Science and Technology).

3. Land border: Includes communes, wards, and towns whose administrative boundaries adjoin the national land border.

4. Village (village) adjacent to the border is a village belonging to a border commune whose administrative boundary adjoins the national land border.

5. Special-use forest zones (as defined in the Law on Forest Protection and Development): Special-use forests are primarily used for natural conservation, national forest ecosystem standards, forest biological gene sources; scientific research; protection of historical, cultural, and scenic sites; serving rest, tourism, combined with protective functions, contributing to environmental protection, including: National parks; Natural conservation zones comprising nature reserves and species-habitat conservation areas; Scenic protection zones comprising historical, cultural, and scenic site forests; Scientific and experimental research forests.

6. Concentrated resettlement: refers to relocating households and individuals to centralized resettlement points to establish new residential areas.

7. Intermingled resettlement: refers to relocating households and individuals to intermingled existing residential areas.

8. In-place stabilization: involves implementing the stabilization of households and individuals at their original place of residence through infrastructure and production support as stipulated by current laws.

Chapter II

PROJECTS OF THE PROGRAM AND IMPLEMENTING OBJECTS

Article 4. Projects of the program

1. The population resettlement program for the period 2013-2015 and orientation until 2020 has four tasks. The Program's tasks are implemented through specific projects as prescribed in Article 2 of Decision No. 1776/QĐ-TTg dated November 21, 2012. To achieve the Program's objectives, first, from now until 2015, priority should be given to the following project sequence:

a) Project for stabilizing the population in disaster-prone areas;

b) Project for stabilizing the population in border and island areas;

c) Project for resettling populations in particularly difficult areas;

d) Project for stabilizing the population of voluntary migrants and special-use forest areas.

2. Where there are multiple resettlement objects such as disaster-prone areas, particularly difficult areas, voluntary migrants, border areas, islands, and special-use forest areas within a planned resettlement area, a combined project involving multiple objects shall be established, named according to one of the four types of projects mentioned above based on the object with the largest number of households.

Article 5. Implementing objects of the projects

1. Households and individuals being resettled in concentrated resettlement, intermingled resettlement, or in-place stabilization in disaster-prone areas, particularly difficult areas, border areas, islands, voluntary migration areas, and special-use forest areas as per approved planning and plans by competent authorities include:

a) Households and individuals losing housing, residential land, and production land due to landslides, flash floods, debris flows, ground subsidence, typhoons, whirlwinds;

b) Households and individuals living in areas at risk of landslides, flash floods, debris flows, ground subsidence, flooding, typhoons, whirlwinds, tsunamis, salinity intrusion, and rising sea levels;

c) Households and individuals living in particularly difficult areas regarding livelihoods such as lack of production land, water for production and daily use, infrastructure, floating villages on lakes and rivers, radiation impact, and environmental pollution;

d) Households and individuals voluntarily moving to border areas, defense economic zones, and islands;

đ) Households and individuals who have migrated freely to various locations across the country without following the population resettlement plan and still face difficulties in their livelihoods;

e) Households and individuals currently legally residing in special-use forest areas that need long-term stabilization, linked to forest protection and development.

2. Communities receiving resettled populations

a) Communities receiving concentrated resettlement households;

b) Communities receiving intermingled resettlement households;

c) Communities receiving in-place stabilized populations.

Chapter III

ESTABLISHING OVERALL POPULATION RESettLEMENT PLANNING, INVESTMENT PROJECTS FOR POPULATION STABILIZATION, INTERMINGLED POPULATION STABILIZATION SCHEMES

AND POPULATION STABILIZATION PLANS

Article 6. Establishing the Overall Plan for Resident Arrangement

1. The establishment of the overall plan for resident arrangement shall be carried out in the following steps:

a) For provinces and centrally governed cities that have not yet established an overall plan for resident arrangement, they must base on the overall plan for socio-economic development, sectoral plans to build an overall plan for stable resident arrangement until 2020 for different groups of migrants, to submit for approval by the competent authority.

b) For provinces and centrally governed cities that have already built, reviewed, and approved the overall plan for stable resident arrangement, they need to review again the objectives, contents, system of solutions, and re-review and approve them in accordance with the content of the resident arrangement program approved by the Prime Minister under Decision No. 1776/QĐ-TTg dated November 21, 2012.

c) During the implementation of the plan, if there are changes, adjustments and supplements should be made to suit the actual situation of the locality.

2. General requirements for the overall plan for resident arrangement

a) Consistent with the overall plan for socio-economic development, the new rural construction planning, sectoral planning within the province;

b) Determine the reasonable number of households to be arranged stably, suitable with the actual conditions, financial resources mobilization capacity, and organization of implementation at the local level in each stage;

c) Ensure scientificity and continuity based on basic survey results, economic and technical norms, relevant criteria and indicators to develop the plan;

d) The plan proposal specifically mentions the location; name of residential points; place for building resettlement areas; scale of households to be arranged stably according to different groups of migrants, types of natural disasters (landslides, flash floods, flood tubes, flooding, land subsidence, whirlwinds, tsunamis, saline intrusion, rising sea levels, and other types of natural disasters). At the same time, prioritize the order, first being places affected by natural disasters, with disaster risks; border areas with few residents or without residents; places with important positions regarding national defense and security; places with special difficulties prone to spontaneous migration;

đ) Propose solutions to implement the plan such as: land fund resolution, capital mobilization, production development organization, policy mechanisms, and other solutions;

3. Contents of the overall plan for resident arrangement need to reflect

a) The necessity of the plan for economic and social development, stable resident arrangement, disaster prevention, environmental protection, national defense and security consolidation, and new rural construction;

b) Evaluation of current natural conditions, socio-economic conditions related to resident arrangement such as: land, water sources, infrastructure, population, labor force, ethnic components, residents' life, customs, traditions, and other conditions;

c) Evaluation of the results of resident arrangement implementation in the previous period on the territory; analysis of strengths, weaknesses, difficulties and obstacles that need to be resolved to effectively perform this task in the next phase;

d) Determination of the demand for resident arrangement on the territory according to different groups of arrangement (natural disasters, special difficulties, borders, islands, spontaneous migration, special-use forests), including the number of households needing to be arranged stably during the 2013-2015 period and up to 2020;

đ) General viewpoints, general goals, specific goals of the plan;

e) Resident arrangement scheme including the following contents:

- Total number of households to be arranged stably, classified by arrangement forms (concentrated, intermixed, stable in place) and arrangement groups (natural disasters, special difficulties, borders, islands, spontaneous migration, special-use forests);

- List of resident arrangement points: point name (village, commune, district); scale of households; arrangement form; arrangement group; arrangement area (within the commune, within the district, within the province, outside the province);

- List of resident arrangement points that need priority implementation;

- Progress of resident arrangement implementation over the years;

g) Scheme for constructing infrastructure in concentrated resettlement areas, intermixed areas, and stable-in-place areas (specify volume, construction standards, investment capital for each type of project such as: transportation, irrigation, drinking water, electricity, and public welfare projects);

h) Scheme for developing production in areas planned for resident arrangement such as: land allocation for households; main production direction; organization of production development;

i) Determination of implementation solutions for the plan including: policy mechanisms; land fund resolution; human resource training; capital mobilization; implementation organization, and other solutions;

k) Preliminary calculation of total investment cost for implementing the plan;

l) Calculation of economic, social, environmental, and national defense benefits of the plan;

m) Strategic environmental impact assessment of the plan;

n) Conclusions and recommendations of the locality;

4. Procedure for establishing the overall plan for resident arrangement

a) Draft research outline and budget for plan preparation;

b) Develop and select planning schemes;

c) Prepare the plan report, submit to the competent authority for review and approval;

d) Announce the plan after it has been approved by the competent authority to relevant agencies and units;

5. Review and Approval of the Overall Plan for Resident Arrangement

a) Review of the overall plan for resident arrangement

- The People's Committee of the province or centrally governed city (hereinafter referred to as the provincial People's Committee) establishes a Council to review the overall plan for resident arrangement in the province; members include departments and sectors: Planning and Investment, Finance, Agriculture and Rural Development, Natural Resources and Environment, Transport, Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, and other related sectors.

- Review time: 15 days from the date of receiving complete valid files for review as prescribed.

b) Files submitted for review and approval of the overall plan for resident arrangement include:

- Request for approval of the plan by the competent authority: the content of the request summarizes the main contents of the planning report on scope, objects, goals, planning schemes, and organizational implementation solutions;

- Comprehensive planning report on resident arrangement and accompanying appendices;

- Map system: including current distribution map of residential points and planning map for resident arrangement at a scale of 1/100,000.

||| - Documents soliciting opinions on the content of planning from authorities at various levels within the scope of the planning;

||| - Relevant legal documents.

||| c) Approving the Overall Plan for Population Arrangement

||| - The Provincial People's Committee shall issue a document to seek opinions from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development regarding the objectives, contents, and list of areas for population arrangement in the Overall Plan for Population Arrangement;

||| - The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall approve the Overall Plan for Population Arrangement in the province and announce it, sending it to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant agencies.

||| Article 7. Establishing Investment Projects for Stable Population Arrangement (applicable to concentrated population arrangement projects and stable population arrangement projects in place)

1. General Requirements

||| a) The project construction site must be within the Overall Plan for Population Arrangement approved by the competent authority. In case of any changes, a report must be submitted to the Provincial People's Committee for supplementary decisions to be included in the local overall plan;

||| b) Fully reflect all aspects concerning the assessment of current natural conditions, economic and social conditions, project activities, production development, infrastructure construction, and implementation solutions according to regulations;

||| c) Determine the scope, objectives, volume, and reasonable total investment amount to complete the project within no more than three years for Class C projects and five years for Class B projects;

||| d) Assess the environmental impact of the project.

||| 2. Main Content of Investment Projects for Stable Population Arrangement

||| a) The necessity of the project: based on practical grounds (situations in disaster-prone areas, particularly difficult regions, special-use forests, border areas, islands, issues of free migration, national defense security...); legal basis (Decisions, Directives);

||| b) Define the scope, scale, target group, and objectives of the project;

||| c) Analyze and assess the natural, economic, and social conditions of the region for stable population arrangement such as land, water sources, topography, climate, infrastructure, population, and living conditions, factors related to stabilizing people's lives and production;

||| d) Project activities:

||| - Scheme for stable population arrangement: number of households relocated to resettlement sites or stabilized in place, departure locations (within the commune, district, province, outside the province), allocation of residential and production land for households, progress in implementing stable arrangements over the years;

||| - Scheme for developing production in the project area: area for reclamation and restoration (if applicable); direction for production development in the area;

||| - Scheme for constructing infrastructure: transportation, irrigation, drinking water, and other essential facilities. The planned construction of infrastructure in resettlement areas must follow the principle of saving investment capital, reasonable scale of works, only new construction or upgrading works directly serving production and stabilizing the population in the project area.

||| đ) Implementation solutions for the project, especially solutions ensuring residential and production land funds, mobilizing investment capital, organizing production development, improving infrastructure to build suitable rural new community points according to planning;

||| e) Preliminary calculation of total investment, sources of investment capital, and implementation schedule:

||| - Total investment divided into: costs for infrastructure construction, production development costs, and other costs;

||| - Sources of investment capital: central budget, local budget, other sources;

||| - Implementation schedule of investment capital over the years.

||| g) Assessment of the economic, social, environmental, and national defense security effects of investing in population arrangement projects.

||| 3. Procedures for Establishing, Reviewing, and Approving Investment Projects for Stable Population Arrangement

||| a) The Provincial People's Committee assigns the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to base on the Overall Plan for Population Arrangement, guide, and coordinate with grassroots authorities (districts, communes) to review, select, and propose a list of population arrangement projects in priority order; simultaneously issue documents to seek opinions from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to decide on the policy to establish investment projects for population arrangement according to the annual plan;

||| b) The agency assigned by the Provincial People's Committee as the investor, based on the policy to establish the project approved by the Provincial People's Committee, proceeds to establish the investment project for stable population arrangement according to the content specified in Clause 2 of this Article and current general regulations;

||| c) The Provincial People's Committee assigns the Department of Planning and Investment to lead and coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant departments in the province to assist the Provincial People's Committee in organizing the review of the project within fifteen days from the date of receiving complete and valid application documents for review;

||| The project proposal for review includes:

||| - The investor's submission to the Provincial People's Committee requesting project review;

||| - Detailed project report and accompanying tables and figures;

||| - Diagrams and drawings showing the location, boundaries of the project area; current status, planning, and basic design maps of infrastructure works as prescribed;

||| - Detailed preliminary calculation report of the total investment cost of the project.

||| d) The Provincial People's Committee shall issue a document to seek opinions from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance to review the investment capital and sources of investment according to Directive No. 1792/CT-TTg dated October 15, 2011 of the Prime Minister on strengthening management of investment from state budget funds and government bonds;

||| đ) The Provincial People's Committee, based on the opinions of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, shall issue a Decision approving the project and send it to the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Finance, and Agriculture and Rural Development for monitoring, consolidation, and annual central budget support investment plan allocation.

Article 8. Establishing a Plan for Stably Arranging Interwoven Resident Population

1. General Requirements

a) The area for stably arranging interwoven resident population must be within the overall planning for resident population arrangement approved by the competent authority.

b) Fully cover all contents as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article.

c) The scope of the plan for stably arranging interwoven resident population shall be within one district or province depending on the scale of households to be arranged.

2. Main Contents of the Plan for Stably Arranging Interwoven Resident Population

a) Argumentation on the necessity.

b) Evaluation of the current natural, economic, and social conditions of the areas expected to receive interwoven residents; analysis of the demographic situation, land fund, and infrastructure in areas with potential to receive interwoven residents.

c) Propose objectives for stably arranging resident population, supplementing and improving infrastructure, developing production, and improving people's living standards.

d) The plan for stably arranging interwoven resident population includes the following contents:

- Number of households (household members) to be interwovenly arranged, categorized according to the types of arrangements such as: natural disasters, particularly difficult areas, border regions, islands, free migration, special-use forests.

- Place names and number of villages, hamlets receiving interwoven residents.

- Progress schedule for arranging interwoven residents over the years.

đ) The plan for allocating residential and production land for interwovenly arranged households includes:

- Opening up and restoring unused land areas (if any).

- Changing the purpose of land use.

- Transferring land use rights between local households and interwovenly arranged households according to the provisions of the law.

e) A plan for constructing or upgrading infrastructure due to additional population.

g) Implementation organization solutions.

h) Preliminary estimate of total investment amount divided by sources of capital and progress schedule.

3. Establishment, Review, and Approval of the Plan for Stably Arranging Interwoven Resident Population

a) Based on the overall planning for stably arranging resident population approved by the competent authority, the Provincial People's Committee assigns the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to take the lead and coordinate with relevant authorities at all levels to establish the plan for stably arranging interwoven resident population; organize a review within 15 days from the date of receipt of complete valid files requesting review to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for approval.

b) The review file for the plan for arranging interwoven residents includes:

- The report of the competent authority sent to the Provincial People's Committee requesting review of the plan for stably arranging interwoven resident population.

- Detailed report explaining the plan for stably arranging interwoven resident population and accompanying annexes.

c) The approval document for the plan for stably arranging interwoven resident population of the Provincial People's Committee is sent to the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Finance, and Agriculture and Rural Development for consolidation, monitoring, and serving as the basis for annual investment support plans.

Article 9. Developing a Plan for Stably Arranging Resident Population

1. General Requirements

a) The content of the plan must fully and comprehensively reflect the evaluation of the implementation of the previous year's plan, the list of investment projects in the planned year (including ongoing projects and new start projects), indicators for resident population arrangement, infrastructure construction, production development, investment capital and sources of investment capital, and implementation solutions.

b) Mobilize and integrate various sources of investment capital to implement the tasks of the annual plan such as: targeted supplementary funds from the central budget, existing program and project funds, local government budgets, and other legitimate sources of funding in the region.

c) Ensure focused and prioritized investment. Prioritize investment in ongoing projects; projects in extremely high-risk and high-risk disaster-prone areas; projects in particularly difficult areas prone to free migration and having significant defense and security positions.

2. Procedures for Establishing, Consolidating, and Assigning Plans

a) Following the guidelines of the Ministry of Planning and Investment on medium-term investment planning, annual planning, and the guidelines of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development (Rural Development Agencies) guide grassroots authorities to develop plans for stably arranging resident populations to consolidate and unify with the provincial Departments of Planning and Investment and Finance to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for consolidation into the provincial socio-economic development plan; simultaneously send the plan to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Finance to consolidate and include it in a separate list for submission to the Prime Minister for approval.

b) Based on the goals, tasks, and budget estimates assigned by the Government, the Provincial People's Committee directs the provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development (Rural Development Agencies) to cooperate with the provincial Departments of Planning and Investment and Finance to integrate various sources of funding in the region to prepare detailed allocation plans for resident population arrangement projects to be submitted to the Provincial People's Committee for decision-making and assignment to implementing units.

3. Content of the Plan for Stably Arranging Resident Population

a) Evaluation of the results of the first six months' plan implementation and estimated full-year plan implementation for indicators such as: stable resident population arrangement by forms (concentrated, interwoven, stable in place), infrastructure construction in resettlement areas such as: transportation (km), irrigation (structures), schools (rooms), health stations (stations), drinking water (structures or wells, tanks) and other essential facilities; production development in resident population arrangement areas; implementation of investment capital (by source of investment capital). Evaluate strengths and main weaknesses.

b) Direction and tasks for the planned year including the following contents

- Forecasting the situation related to setting targets, indicators, and justifying the main tasks and indicators of the planned year;

- List of investment projects for resident population arrangement (Applicable according to Appendix I issued together with this Circular);

- Plan for stably arranging resident population (Applicable according to Appendix II issued together with this Circular);

- Plan for infrastructure construction in resident population arrangement projects (Applicable according to Appendix III issued together with this Circular);

- Capital allocation plan for resident population arrangement (Applicable according to Appendix IV issued together with this Circular);

- Production development plan in resident population arrangement projects (Applicable according to Appendix V issued together with this Circular).

c) Implementation solutions for the plan.

Chapter IV

SUPPORT POLICIES, INVESTMENT CAPITAL SOURCES AND IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDURES

 RESIDENT POPULATION ARRANGEMENT

Article 10. Mechanism and policies for implementing the residential resettlement program

1. Households, individuals, and communities specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 5 of this Circular shall apply the policies stipulated in Clause 2, Article 3 of Decision No. 1776/QĐ-TTg dated November 21, 2012 of the Prime Minister. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall coordinate with relevant sectors in the province to propose and submit to the People's Committee at the provincial level specific regulations on the amount of financial support for housing, relocation of people and assets, land reclamation (if applicable), food (during the initial period at the new settlement location, not exceeding 12 months), and other forms of support appropriate to the actual conditions of the locality, thereby facilitating households to stabilize their lives.

2. Financial support under the policy shall be directly provided to relocated households to construct their own housing and cover expenses for ensuring stability in living and production at the new settlement location. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall coordinate with local authorities to guide and implement measures to monitor that residents use the financial support for its intended purpose and effectively.

3. The People's Committee at the provincial level shall instruct the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to prepare a budget estimate for relocating households to islands based on current transportation rates and basic construction costs for housing, with each household receiving funding for one solid single-story main house and one auxiliary house with a total maximum area of 60 square meters.².

4. The State budget shall provide support according to point e, Clause 2, Article 3 of Decision No. 1776/QĐ-TTg dated November 21, 2012 of the Prime Minister to carry out operational activities for implementing the residential resettlement program, including:

a) Developing training content and organizing training courses, seminars, and workshops on managing and implementing the residential resettlement program for cadres responsible for residential resettlement at all levels;

b) Ensuring funds for directing the implementation of the program at all levels: central, provincial, district, commune, including activities such as propaganda, inspection, seminars, conferences, and other operational activities.

The People's Committee at the provincial level shall instruct the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to prepare a budget estimate for operational activities to implement the residential resettlement program, to be submitted for approval by the competent authority according to the annual plan for implementation.

Article 11. Sources of capital and allocation of capital

1. Capital for the residential resettlement program during the 2013-2015 period and towards 2020 shall be invested from various sources as stipulated in Decision No. 1776/QĐ-TTg dated November 21, 2012, specifically as follows:

a) Central government budget supplements targeted to local budgets and entities implementing the program, including development investment capital (for concentrated residential resettlement projects and in-place stabilization) and economic affairs capital (direct support to households and communities accepting intermixed resettlement);

b) Local government budget direct investment in the residential resettlement program;

c) Integrated capital from programs and projects within the locality;

d) Other legally raised capital;

e) Capital raised from the public.

2. Allocation of capital

Capital allocation shall be carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law and guiding documents of the State Budget Law.

Article 12. Procedures for resettling residents and implementing support policies for resettlement

1. Procedures for resettling residents

The procedures for resettling residents shall be implemented according to the Program on Resettling Residents as stipulated in Decision No. 1776/QĐ-TTg dated November 21, 2012 of the Prime Minister, applied in Circular No. 14/2010/TT-BNNPTNT dated March 19, 2010 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development regarding "Procedures for Resettling Residents as stipulated in Decision No. 193/2006/QĐ-TTg dated August 24, 2006 of the Prime Minister."

2. Implementation of support policies

a) Applying support policies for households resettled as provided for in Clause 2, Article 3 of Decision No. 1776/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister from November 21, 2012 onwards;

b) In cases where households have moved to the project area before the date mentioned above and are entitled to support policies under Decision No. 78/2008/QĐ-TTg dated June 10, 2008 of the Prime Minister, local authorities shall publicize and explain to the people to avoid complaints and objections. The People's Committee of the province shall instruct the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to coordinate with grassroots authorities to review and consider poor households with extremely difficult living conditions to provide additional support policies from the locality to ensure their stable livelihoods and production over the long term.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 13. Responsibilities of the People's Committee at the provincial level

1. Establishing new or reviewing and supplementing the overall planning for resettling residents within the provincial territory; preparing, examining, and approving investment projects for resettling residents, and schemes for interwoven resettlement as prescribed in Articles 6, 7, and 8 of this Circular.

2. Preparing annual and five-year implementation plans for the Program on Resettling Residents and reporting them to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and submission to the Prime Minister for approval.

3. Integrating funds from other programs and projects within the territory with the Program on Resettling Residents.

4. Conducting inspections, monitoring, and evaluating the implementation of resettlement projects within the territory.

5. Assigning the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to take the lead in coordinating with relevant sectors to assist the Provincial People's Committee in managing, directing, and organizing the implementation of the planning for resettling residents, ensuring investment effectiveness.

6. Reporting the results of the implementation of the Program on Resettling Residents every six months, annually, and every five years to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister.

Article 14. Responsibilities of the Directorate of Cooperative Economy and Rural Development

The Directorate of Cooperative Economy and Rural Development shall advise the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to implement:

1. Guiding localities in reviewing, adjusting, and supplementing the overall planning for resettling residents; preparing, examining, and approving investment projects for resettling residents as prescribed; establishing annual and five-year resettlement plans to consolidate and submit to the Ministry for submission to the Prime Minister for approval.

2. Coordinating with agencies of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance in allocating funds for the resettlement program.

3. Coordinating with agencies of the Ministry of Finance and related ministries and sectors in researching and proposing adjustments and supplements to policies for resettlement.

4. Preparing the budget estimate for directing the implementation of the resettlement program within the central government's expenditure tasks.

5. Inspecting, evaluating, consolidating, and submitting reports to the Ministry for reporting to the Prime Minister on the results of the implementation of the resettlement program in localities; proposing solutions to organize management and effective implementation of the resettlement program.

Article 15. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from March 11, 2014. Previous regulations contrary to this Circular are abolished.

2. During the implementation of this Circular, if there are difficulties, the People's Committees of provinces shall promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for adjustment and supplementation./.