VietNamNet Bridge – It was Mark Twain who inimitably said: “Buy land, they are not making it anymore.”

An overview of the South Saigon urban area, HCM City. Illustration. — VNA/VNS Photo

Sound advice when land is turned into a commodity that is bought and sold in a “free market,” but this is a mythical entity for many people in Vietnam, because they can only dream of owning a piece of land or a home in the nation’s urban areas.

Theoretically, though, as per the nation’s charter, all of the country’s geographical features – land, water bodies, underground minerals as well as resources deep under the sea belong to “the people,” but the State represents the people in managing them – making the State the highest authority.

It is but natural then that the State’s management of this most precious resource comes under close, critical scrutiny.

The onus, then, is on the Vietnamese State to manage this resource effectively and equitably, and despite some major steps taken in the past towards equitable distribution, its record of late has left a lot to be desired. Tiếp tục đọc “The truth about the lie of the land” →