At an online question-and-answer session of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Tuesday, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang pledged that the delay in issuance of land certificates to households will be resolved with the deadline set by the end of this year.

At the session, deputy Nguyen Thanh Thuy from central Binh Dinh province claimed that legal documents about land use rights lack unity, causing delay in the issuance of certificates.

Another deputy, Le Viet Truong from the NA Committee for National Defense and Security complained that the issuance of land use rights certificates for defense and security purposes was very slow.

As reported by Minister Quang, the number of certificates issued by the end of June stood at 36 million for 20.12 million hectares, equivalent to 83.2 percent of the total land. Meanwhile, over 3.5 million certificates for over 2.2 million hectares of land are on the waiting list, the minister said, adding that these are located across 18 provinces, some of which are struggling to find room in their budget for the issuance process.

Quang said his ministry is also worried about the speed of issuance, but if localities do not do their job on time, then the ministry will also fail to meet the deadline.

As regards environmental issues, the minister admitted that the State management in the environment field has remained lax over the past time, with serious environmental pollution caused by firms’ waste discharges. He promised that regular inspections will be conducted in the coming time and that more automatic environment monitoring stations will be installed and will operate around the clock.

Speaking to conclude the session, NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung asked the ministry to strengthen measures to protect the country’s environment and its natural resources.