On the morning of February 6, the Department of Information and Communications of Ca Mau province said that the People's Committee of Ca Mau city has just issued information related to the administrative penalty against Mr. Ho An Tap, the owner of the "huge" villa built on aquaculture land in Ca Mau.

According to the People's Committee of Ca Mau city, Mr. Ho An Tap was granted a certificate of aquaculture land of more than 3,500m2 in Tan Thanh commune. Of which, the construction area is more than 864m2 (main house is about 294m2, the rest is ancillary house, tomb, landscape...).

Ca Mau City People's Committee believes that at the time Mr. Tap built houses and constructions on the land (before December 2022) while not changing the purpose of use from aquaculture land to residential land, it was not in accordance with the provisions of the Land Law.

On January 9, 2023, the People's Committee of Ca Mau city decided to fine Mr. Tap 22.5 million VND and force him to restore the land to its original condition before the violation.

However, on November 15, 2023, the People's Committee of Ca Mau city decided to amend and supplement part of the above penalty decision.

Specifically, the People's Committee of Ca Mau City forced Mr. Tap to maintain the current land use status as at the time of discovery of the violation (ie the time the villa was built). The villa owner must carry out land procedures (conversion of land use purpose) according to regulations for the area of ​​more than 2,261m2.

"The decision to amend and supplement part of the decision on administrative sanctions on January 9, 2023 is in accordance with legal regulations," affirmed the People's Committee of Ca Mau city.

Ca Mau City authorities stated that since 2018, the planning and land use plan at Mr. Tap's land location has been planned as rural residential land and aquaculture land. Many cases have been converted to residential land use and housing construction.

Ca Mau City People's Committee further explained that according to the 2021 decision of Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee regulating the level of restoration of the original state of the land before the violation, it clearly states: Violators who arbitrarily change the purpose of land use while the location, area, and type of land are consistent with the planning and land use plan approved by the competent authority, the violators are required to maintain the current state of land use as at the time of discovery of the violation and must carry out land procedures according to regulations.

Also according to the People's Committee of Ca Mau city, Mr. Tap's case is consistent with the approved land use planning and plan, so the Chairman of the People's Committee of Ca Mau city issued a decision to impose a fine and apply remedial measures, requiring Mr. Tap to maintain the current land use status at the time of the violation and to carry out land procedures.

The Ca Mau city government also said that before issuing the decision to punish Mr. Tap, the authorities did not create conditions for the violator to legalize his administrative violation assets.