Authorities in Dak Lak Province, located in Vietnam’s Central Highlands region, are unsure about how to handle a farm owned by a former provincial Party secretary that sits in the middle of a local nature reserve 

The farm inside the Ea So nature reserve in Dak Lak’s Ea Kar District belongs to Y Luyen Nie Kdam, who held the province’s Party secretary position from 2000 to 2005, Nguyen Hoai Duong, director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, confirmed on Wednesday.

The entrance to the farm is a trail which connects to National Highway 29 and stretches nearly one kilometer through the forest toward the Krong H’Nang hydropower reservoir. 

At the end of the trail is a gate with bushes that serve as a natural fence on either side.

Several houses and barns are situated within the farm area, which spans out to the reservoir.

Construction and farming in the area of a nature reserve and a reservoir are currently banned, as per regulations.

However, Y Luyen Nie Kdam built the farm before the establishment of the Ea So nature reserve in 1999 and often stays on the farm, leaving authorities confused about how to deal with the premises.

A leader of the Ea So nature reserve who described Y Luyen as a 'very reputable' former leader expressed his hesitation in handling the situation.

“We can only remind him not to change the status quo of the area. Clearing [his farm] would be difficult,” the nature reserve’s leader said.

Also hailing Y Luyen as a former leader with many merits, the province’s agriculture director Duong suggested gradually clearing the farm in generations after Y Luyen’s.

“This is the consequences of history as are the cases of Drang Phok Village in Yok Don National Park [in Dak Lak’s Buon Don District] and Lach Lo Village in the Nam Ka nature reserve [in Dak Lak’s Lak District],” Duong added.

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