Decision No. 78/2008/QD-TTg On certain policies to implement the Program for resettling residents as per Decision No. 193/2006/QD-TTg dated August 24, 2006 of the Government Prime Minister.

Pursuant to …;

On certain policies to implement the Population Resettlement Program pursuant to

Decision No. 193/2006/QĐ-TTg dated August 24, 2006 of the Prime Minister

 _______________________

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Based on Decision No. 193/2006/QĐ-TTg dated August 24, 2006 of the Prime Minister approving the Population Resettlement Program;

Based on Decision No. 172/2007/QĐ-TTg dated November 16, 2007 of the Prime Minister approving the National Strategy for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation, and Reduction until 2020;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

DECISION:

Article 1. Approves certain policies to implement the Population Resettlement Program in areas affected by natural disasters, extremely difficult conditions, border regions, islands, spontaneous migration, highly vulnerable and very vulnerable forest protection zones, and strictly protected special-use forests during the period from 2006 to 2010 and with a vision to 2015, as stipulated in Decision No. 193/2006/QĐ-TTg dated August 24, 2006 of the Prime Minister (hereinafter referred to as the Population Resettlement Program).

Article 2. Scope and Objects of Application

b) In cases where funds from organizations and individuals within and outside Vietnam are used for victim support work and victim support benefits, such activities shall be carried out in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Finance and the donor; in cases where there is no agreement between the donor or their authorized representative and the Ministry of Finance regarding the expenditure level, the expenditure level prescribed in this Circular shall apply.

These policies apply to the implementation of population resettlement and stabilization according to national planning and plans in areas affected by natural disasters, extremely difficult conditions, border regions, islands, spontaneous migration, highly vulnerable and very vulnerable forest protection zones, and strictly protected special-use forests up to 2010 and with a vision to 2015.

Thông tư này áp dụng đối với tổ chức, cá nhân có liên quan đến hoạt động kinh doanh đối tượng thủy sản nuôi chủ lực trên lãnh thổ Việt Nam.

Households are resettled and stabilized through centralized relocation, intermixed settlement, or in-place stabilization according to approved planning and plans, including:

a) Households that have lost housing, residential land, and production land due to landslides, flash floods, debris flows, ground subsidence, whirlwinds, tsunamis;

b) Households living in areas at risk of landslides, flash floods, debris flows, ground subsidence, flooding, whirlwinds, tsunamis;

c) Households living in areas with extremely difficult living conditions such as lack of land and water for production; lack of potable water; lack of infrastructure; households classified as poor living in floating villages on lakes and reservoirs, fishing villages along rivers, and areas with environmental pollution;

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

đ) Households currently residing legally in highly vulnerable and very vulnerable forest protection zones and strictly protected special-use forests who need to be relocated out of these forest areas to resettle populations, thereby creating conditions for households to stabilize their lives and achieve sustainable development;

e) Households that have spontaneously migrated to various locations across the country or are currently residing in highly vulnerable and very vulnerable forest protection zones and strictly protected special-use forests without following the population resettlement plan, whose livelihoods remain difficult and require resettlement and stabilization within the planned area.

Article 3. Principles for Implementing the Policy

1. Households moving to project areas will receive state support for relocation (if applicable), housing, food, and other forms of assistance; investment support for essential infrastructure construction and service development to create conditions for stable living and sustainable community development.

2. Central government budget will provide targeted support, combined with local budgets and mobilization of other lawful funds in the area to implement the Population Resettlement Program.

3. Investment projects will only be supported if they comply with current investment procedures.

Article 4. Land Policy

Based on current laws on land, localities shall take measures to reclaim unused or inefficiently used land areas from organizations, forestry farms, or convert land use purposes according to approved planning and plans to allocate to households and individuals involved in population resettlement projects.

Article 5. Support Policies

1. Direct support policies for households:

For households falling under the provisions of Clause 2, Article 2 of this Decision, support will be provided for relocation and baggage transportation at the place of departure; support for clearing land, production tools, seeds, livestock, housing, food (for up to 12 months after arriving at the resettlement area), and drinking water (in areas where centralized drinking water facilities cannot be built), with specific levels of support as follows:

a) When clearing land for production, support for clearing and building paddy fields is 7 million VND per hectare; support for clearing and establishing permanent plots is 4 million VND per hectare;

b) For households falling under point a, Clause 2, Article 2 of this Decision, the level of support is 20 million VND per household; if relocating outside the district or province, support at the place of departure is 4 million VND per household and support at the place of arrival is 16 million VND per household;

c) For households falling under points b and c, Clause 2, Article 2 of this Decision, the level of support is as follows:

- For households relocating within the project area, the support is 10 million VND per household;

- For households relocating within the province to the project area, the support is 12 million VND per household; if relocating between districts within the province, support at the place of departure is 2 million VND per household and support at the place of arrival is 10 million VND per household;

- For households relocating outside the province to the project area, the support is 15 million VND per household; if relocating between districts outside the province, support at the place of departure is 3 million VND per household and support at the place of arrival is 12 million VND per household.

d) For households resettled and stabilized in mainland border communes of Vietnam-China, the level of support is as follows:

- For households relocating to border villages, the support is 30 million VND per household; if relocating from another district to a border village, support at the place of departure is 5 million VND per household and support at the place of arrival is 25 million VND per household;

- For households relocating to non-border villages within the same commune but in different districts, the support is 20 million VND per household; if relocating from another district to a non-border village within the same commune, the support at the place of departure is 4 million VND per household and support at the place of arrival is 16 million VND per household;

đ) For households resettled and stabilized in mainland border communes of Vietnam-Laos and Vietnam-Cambodia, the level of support is 20 million VND per household as stipulated in Decision No. 160/2007/QĐ-TTg dated October 17, 2007 of the Prime Minister; if relocating from another district to a border commune, the support at the place of departure is 4 million VND per household and support at the place of arrival is 16 million VND per household.

e) For households relocating to islands, the level of support is as follows:

- For islands less than 50 nautical miles from the mainland, the support is 80 million VND per household, with support at the place of departure being 8 million VND per household and support at the place of arrival being 72 million VND per household;

- For islands that are more than 50 nautical miles from the mainland, the support amount is 132 million VND per household, including 12 million VND per household for the departure location and 120 million VND per household for the destination location;

- For islands with harsh natural conditions and difficult transportation means, the level of support shall be based on the project approved by the competent authority.

The People's Committee of provinces and centrally governed cities (hereinafter referred to as the Provincial People's Committee) which have islands shall, based on the actual situation in their locality, specify the specific budget for purchasing food for the initial period upon arrival at the island, constructing housing, and water supply facilities.

g) Households belonging to the category specified in point đ, Clause 2, Article 2 of this Decision shall implement compensation, resettlement, and support according to the provisions of Decree No. 197/2004/NĐ-CP dated December 3, 2004 of the Government on compensation, support, and resettlement when the State requisitions land and other relevant regulations.

h) Households belonging to the category specified in point e, Clause 2, Article 2 of this Decision, who voluntarily comply with the relocation to the planned residential area as arranged by local authorities at the destination location shall be considered for allocation of residential land and production land according to the levels and conditions for land allocation stipulated by the Provincial People's Committee at the destination location. The direct support amount for households in this category shall not exceed 3 million VND per household; the specific support amount shall be determined by the Provincial People's Committee at the destination location in accordance with the form, distance, and relocation area.

In cases where the household belongs to ethnic minorities and has extremely difficult living conditions, they may be considered for additional funding to purchase food during the initial period in the resettlement area, seeds for staple crops, fertilizers for the first crop, and solutions for drinking water. The specific support amount shall be determined by the Provincial People's Committee at the destination location but shall not exceed 5 million VND per household;

i) In addition to the aforementioned support, households relocating to low-lying areas in the Mekong Delta region shall receive additional support of 1.2 million VND per household to purchase one boat as a means of transportation (the name of the commune in the low-lying area shall be reviewed and decided by the Provincial People's Committee); households migrating from the plains, midlands, and mountainous regions to highland areas shall receive additional relocation support of 0.7 million VND per household (the name of the commune in the highland area shall be defined according to the regulations of the Ethnic Minority Committee).

2. Support policies for communities:

a) The State shall provide investment support for essential infrastructure construction in areas designated for concentrated population resettlement, including items such as land compensation and clearance (if applicable); leveling of residential land at the new resettlement site;开荒造林（对于集中开垦的情况）；交通道路（项目内部和新居民点到最近交通干线的连接道路）；小型水利设施；初级普通教育教室、幼儿园和托儿所；卫生站；集中供水设施和其他一些必要的工程。

The project investor shall arrange residents based on the current infrastructure status of the community in the project area and the resettlement site to decide on investing in constructing facilities. New construction shall only be carried out for facilities that are not yet present but are needed, or upgrading and repairing existing facilities that have deteriorated, without necessarily building all the listed facilities.

b) For communes receiving residents who settle intermixed according to the plan index assigned by the provincial People's Committee under Article 2, Clause 2 of this Decision, they will be supported with 30 million VND per household to implement the following tasks: adjusting residential land and production land to allocate to new households (clearing land, compensating according to regulations when land is reclaimed from organizations and individuals currently using the land); constructing new or upgrading some essential infrastructure projects such as classrooms, health stations, irrigation systems within fields, rural roads, public water supply facilities. The specific items to be upgraded or newly invested in shall be decided by the commune People's Committee in order of priority and suitability to local conditions, with the participation of the local community.

Article 6. Other policies

1. The State budget shall support vocational training for laborers belonging to households relocated and arranged in the project area but unable to ensure agricultural production land to stabilize their livelihoods, with the specific level of support applied according to Clause 3, Article 1 of Decision No. 81/2005/QĐ-TTg dated April 18, 2005 of the Prime Minister regarding short-term vocational training support for rural laborers. Poor households moving to areas planned for population relocation shall be supported with loans from the Social Policy Bank to develop production activities in accordance with current regulations.

2. Based on the specific conditions of the locality, the provincial People's Committee shall implement the integration of policies from other programs and projects within the area with the project under the Population Relocation Program.

Article 7. Total investment support amount and sources of capital.

1. The total payment for the investment support amount during the period of 2006-2015 is 9.250 trillion VND; specifically for the period of 2006-2010 is 4.500 trillion VND, including:

- Central government budget: 3.800 trillion VND (allocated as follows: economic affairs expenditure fund 1.100 trillion VND; development investment fund 2.700 trillion VND).

- Local government budget: 700 trillion VND

2. Sources of capital:

a) Central government budget: supplementing targeted funds to the local government budget to implement population relocation projects according to the policies stipulated in this Decision.

b) Local government budget: balancing and allocating at least 20% compared to the central government's targeted supplementary funds, while mobilizing additional legitimate sources of capital to ensure effective implementation of the objectives and policies of the Population Relocation Program.

Specifically, provinces that annually receive subsidies for budget balance from the central government shall be supported by the central government at 100% to implement the Population Relocation Program.

Article 8. Implementation organization:

Responsibilities of central ministries and sectors:

a) Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (the permanent office of the Population Relocation Program):

- Taking the lead and coordinating with the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Finance, and related ministries and sectors to guide the provincial People's Committees in developing annual and five-year population relocation plans for consolidation and submission to the Prime Minister for approval as the basis for allocating funds for the Population Relocation Program;

- Direct, guide, organize the implementation of population resettlement according to the annual plan to achieve the objectives of the Population Resettlement Program;

- Prepare the budget estimate for directing and training human resources to implement the Population Resettlement Program within the central government's expenditure tasks;

- Take the lead, coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and sectors to study, adjust, and supplement policies for implementing population resettlement when necessary;

- Take the lead, coordinate with the Ministries of Planning and Investment and Finance to adjust the support levels specified in this Decision when the domestic price index increases by 30% to 50%; in cases where the price index exceeds the aforementioned ratio, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall take the lead, coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to submit to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision;

- Take the lead, coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to inspect and supervise the implementation of the Population Resettlement Program by localities to ensure compliance with objectives, current regulations, and policies;

b) Ministry of Planning and Investment:

- Take the lead, coordinate with the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture and Rural Development to allocate sufficient funds for the Population Resettlement Program to implement the annual and five-year plans;

- Agree with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Finance on the allocation of capital to sectors and localities and record it separately in the annual plan;

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to inspect the planning and allocation of targets and funds by localities in implementing the Population Resettlement Program according to the assigned annual plans;

c) Ministry of Finance:

- Coordinate with the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Agriculture and Rural Development in allocating funds for the Population Resettlement Program according to the annual plan;

- Implement the distribution, guidance, and supervision of financial expenditures of the Population Resettlement Program;

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant ministries and sectors in developing mechanisms and policies to implement the Population Resettlement Program;

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to inspect the allocation and disbursement of funds by localities in implementing the Population Resettlement Program according to the assigned annual plans;

d) The Ministries of National Defense, Natural Resources and Environment, Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Public Security, Culture, Sports and Tourism, Education and Training, Health, Ethnic Minority Committee, and relevant ministries and sectors shall, based on their functions and responsibilities, develop plans to direct and guide localities in implementing the Population Resettlement Program;

2. Responsibilities of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities.

- Develop supplementary capital plans and projects from the central budget annually and over five years for the provincial Population Resettlement Program, report 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;

- Allocate local budget funds in accordance with point b, Clause 2, Article 7 of this Decision to support investment in projects within the scope of the Population Resettlement Program;

- Integrate capital from various programs, projects, and other lawful sources in the locality to focus and prioritize investments in projects within the Population Resettlement Program that have been approved by competent authorities;

- Inspect and supervise the management and implementation of projects in the province to ensure compliance with the objectives, target groups, policies, and current regulations related to the Population Resettlement Program;

Article 9. Effectiveness

1. This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette;

2. This Decision replaces Decision No. 190/2003/QĐ-TTg dated September 16, 2003 of the Government on policies for population relocation to implement planning and resettlement during the period 2003-2010, replaces point a and d, Clause 3, Article 1 of Decision No. 120/2003/QĐ-TTg dated June 11, 2003 of the Government approving the Strategy for Economic and Social Development along the Vietnam-China Border until 2010, and replaces point a, Clause 4, Article 1 of Decision No. 160/2007/QĐ-TTg dated October 17, 2007 of the Government approving the Project for Economic and Social Development in border communes between Vietnam-Laos and Vietnam-Cambodia until 2010.

Article 10. The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government agencies, Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees under the direct jurisdiction of the central government shall be responsible for implementing this Decision./.