Land management problems a development roadblock: Party chief

Addressing the opening of the fifth plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee in Hanoi, Trong said land was a nation's precious resource that belongs to the people. There are those who get rich thanks to land, but there are also those who get poorer because of it, he noted.

Trong said officials and authorities need to find out why land as a resource has not been fully utilized to become a powerful source for socio-economic development, why some lands were still being used wastefully, why corruption regarding land still existed, and why the real estate market remained "unstable and risky."

He said the issues regarding land management need to be discussed, including policies and initiatives to plan and put it to effective use, covering renting land, handing out compensation and developing the real estate market sustainably.

Over 70 percent of accusations and complaints in recent times had to do with land-related issues, the Party leader said.

Several high-profile corruption cases uncovered in recent years were about land management violations, including the arrests of former leaders of Da Nang, HCMC, Khanh Hoa and Binh Thuan.

Former commander of the Vietnamese Navy Nguyen Van Hien was jailed in May last year for negligence in naval land management.

The fifth plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee is expected to last seven days. Among other topics, delegates will discuss land policies and law, agriculture and rural development, the development of a collective economy and anti-corruption measures.