Remove obstacles in the management and use of public property

The management and use of public property in agencies, organisation and unit is encountered many difficulties. Photo: ST

Completing regulations on management and use of public property

According to the Ministry of Finance, Decree No. 151/2017/ND-CP is an important legal basis for the implementation of management and use of public property at agencies, organizations, units and public property at enterprises.

However, through reviewing the provisions of Decree No. 151/2017/ND-CP and synthesizing the recommendations of a number of ministries, sectors and localities, some problems still arise in the implementation of the Decree.

Accordingly, problems related to the contents on management and use of public property at agencies, organizations and units have not provided specific guidelines as a basis for agencies, organizations and units to implement such as the order and procedures for handing over the property in kind to agencies, organizations or units; authority to decide on maintenance, repair, hire a unit with the function of management and operation of public property; exploiting public property after withdrawal.

Also according to the Ministry of Finance, Resolution No. 82/2019/QH14 dated June 14, 2019 of the National Assembly on further improving and raising the effect and effectiveness of the implementation of policies and laws on urban land planning, management and use assigned the Government to research to narrow down the cases of lease of land whose land rental is paid in a lump sum, switching to the form of leasing land with an annual rental, ensuring the source of stable revenue from the land.

However, current regulations on selling offices and non-business establishments only provide land allocation or lease of land whose land rental is paid in a lump sum.

Another obstacle encountered in the implementation of Decree 151 is that some cases are applied the current order and procedures for handling public property but arising difficulties such as handling public property in the case of merging, consolidation, separation, or dissolution due to the current process of handling public property from the agency assigned to manage and use the proposed property, making a dossier of request for handling.

However, in these cases, it is possible that the agency assigned to manage and use public property no longer exists because it has been merged, consolidated or dissolved, so the order and procedures for handling public property cannot be applied.

In addition, some specific types of public property need to be handled in accordance with separate regulations in specialized laws, but there are no regulations on exclusion or reference causing confusion for agencies, organizations and units in the application of laws such as weapons, explosives, supporting tools.

Notably, regulations on the use of public property at public non-business units for business purposes, leasing, joint ventures and associates still face many obstacles in terms of choosing joint venture and association partners, regulations on early termination of contracts, adjustment of rental prices, and renewal of contracts.

Regarding the practical problems in the 5-year implementation of Decree 151/2017/ND-CP, the Ministry of Finance affirmed the completion of detailed regulations on the management and use of public property at the agency in order to meet the requirements.

Thus, the development of a Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 151/2017/ND-CP is necessary.

Amending 10 important contents

The draft Decree amending Decree No. 151/2017/ND-CP has added and amended 10 important contents including handing over property in kind to state agencies; maintenance and repair of public property; exploiting public property at state agencies and public property which have a decision on withdrawal of competent agencies or persons; determining the starting price when auctioning the head office; transfer public property to the locality for management and handling; handling public property in case of merger, consolidation, division or dissolution; classification of public property at public non-business units to perform tasks assigned by the State and public properties used for business, leasing, joint ventures or association purposes; determine the payable land rent when the public non-business unit uses the land-attached property for the purposes of business, leasing, joint venture or association; using public property at public non-business units for the purpose of leasing; using public property at public non-business units for the purpose of joint venture or association.

For example, regarding the maintenance and repair of public property, Article 39 of Law on Management and Use of Public Property stipulates the maintenance and repair of public property.

However, through the actual process of performing maintenance and repair of public property, there is a case where agencies and units have the need to fully recover supplies and materials collected from maintenance and repair (such as corrugated iron roof, wooden doors) to save costs.

At the same time, by assessing the implementation of Law, due to the diverse types of public property, especially specialized machinery and equipment, many ministries, sectors and localities have not yet issued regulations on maintenance and repair regimes, standards and economic-technical norms applicable to public property, leading to there being no basis for implementation.

Therefore, the draft Decree has added regulations on the maintenance and repair of public property (supplementing Article 12a) to regulate the specific contents mentioned above.

Accordingly, besides complying with the provisions of Article 39 of the Law on Management and Use of Public Property, the maintenance and repair of public property must also comply with the provisions of this draft Decree and other relevant laws.

For the case that the ministry, field, agency or competent person has not yet promulgated regulations, regimes, standards and economic-technical norms for maintenance and repair of public property as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 39 of the Law on Management and Use of Public Property, the head of state agencies which is assigned to manage and use public property shall base on the instructions of the manufacturer and the actual use of the property to decide on property maintenance and repair.

Regarding the supplies and materials recovered during the maintenance and repair of public property, if it can continue to be used, the state agency which is assigned to manage and use that property may continue to use it.