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Phat Quang Pagoda, also known as Thien Ton Phat Quang, is located on Dinh Mountain in Tan Hai Commune, Phu My Town, Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province. In 1992, Mr. Thich Chan Quang returned to Phat Quang Pagoda and became the abbot of this pagoda until now. In 2007, Mr. Thich Chan Quang was ordained as the Venerable. This pagoda has long been a famous spiritual tourist destination in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province.
However, few people know that many constructions in the temple grounds were built without permits and on state-managed protective forest land.
The temple where the Venerable Thich Chan Quang is the abbot has just been renamed from Thien Ton Phat Quang to Phat Quang Temple. Photo: Tan Hiep
Specifically, according to the documents that the reporter of Cong Thuong Newspaper has, in 2018, the People’s Committee of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province issued a notice of the conclusion of the inspection of compliance with the provisions of the law on land and construction at Phat Quang pagoda in Tan Thanh district (now Phu My town, Ba Ria – Vung Tau province).
This inspection conclusion stated that in 2017, Phat Quang Pagoda requested the People’s Committee of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province to issue a Land Use Rights Certificate to the pagoda. However, the land area that Phat Quang Pagoda used in Dinh Mountain area, Tan Thanh district (now Phu My town) is part of the total area of 17,928 hectares that Dong Nai Provincial People’s Committee assigned Chau Thanh Forestry to manage since 1978. At that time, Phu My town was Phu My commune, Chau Thanh district, Dong Nai province. Currently, the land belongs to the protective forest land managed by the Protection Forest Management Board of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province, before the time of land use by the Pagoda, it is not the land that the people are legally using.
“Phat Quang Pagoda requested a certificate of land use rights for an area of about 19 hectares in the Dinh mountain area, which the pagoda claimed to have received from households for transfer without a basis for settlement and was not eligible for a certificate of land use rights. Regarding the documents provided by Mr. Vuong Tan Viet, the application for land reclamation of 4 households in 1991 and the applications for land transfer of households in 1992 were contrary to the law and had no legal value,” The Inspection Conclusion Notice clearly states.
Of the total 36 constructions built on the land of Phat Quang Pagoda, 35 were unlicensed, and 1 was licensed but the licensing process was flawed. Photo: Contributor
According to the Inspection Conclusion, out of the total 36 pagoda constructions built on the land, the main hall was granted Construction Permit No. 23/GPXD on September 20, 2001 by the Department of Construction of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province with a construction and repair area of 228m2, but in reality, the pagoda built the main hall on an area of 445.4m2.
“The Department of Construction issued this Construction Permit which did not ensure that the planning in the Dinh Mountain area at that time was in accordance with the provisions in Point 4.1, Section 4, Part I of Joint Circular No. 09/1999/TTLTBXD-TCDC dated December 10, 1999 of the Ministry of Construction and the General Department of Land Administration on guidelines for granting construction permits, which stipulates the basis for granting construction permits. Therefore, the Department of Construction issued this Construction Permit which was incorrect.” Excerpt from Inspection Conclusion.
Regarding the remaining 35 projects, the Inspection Conclusion clearly stated that these projects were not granted construction permits by competent state agencies, including many large, solid projects such as asphalt roads, with an area of about 3,500 square meters.
“Currently, the construction area of works and roads is 25,692.5 square meters within the total land area of the pagoda being used, which is 40,170.1 square meters. This shows that a large area of protective forest has been destroyed, land has been used for the wrong purpose, and many illegal constructions have been built,” Conclusion content as of 2018.
Phat Quang Pagoda uses thousands of square meters of protective forest land managed by the State. Photo: Phat Quang Pagoda
During the process of Phat Quang Pagoda constructing illegal structures on the land, the authorities of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province drew up 33 violation records, issued 11 decisions on administrative sanctions and decisions to suspend construction, decisions to apply remedial measures, and requests to restore the original status.
“The temple representatives did not take remedial measures but continued to build, demonstrating non-compliance with construction laws and management documents of competent authorities. Therefore, it is necessary to dismantle the temple to ensure the strictness of the law in handling illegal construction of religious establishments in the area.”The inspection conclusion confirmed.
Regarding the illegal construction of Phat Quang Pagoda, the 2018 Inspection Conclusion of the People’s Committee of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province directed and assigned the People’s Committee of Tan Thanh district (now Phu My town) to review the process of handling administrative violations for all construction works of the Pagoda, to handle administrative violations for these works in accordance with the law.
The Great Buddha statue at Phat Quang Pagoda was built in 2016 and completed in early 2018, before the inspection conclusion was issued (Photo: Phat Quang Pagoda)
In addition, the province also proposed to handle the responsibilities of a series of units and individuals. Specifically, the Director of the Department of Construction; Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; Tan Thanh District People’s Committee (now Phu My town); Director of the Provincial Protective Forest Management Board; Head of the Forestry Sub-Department; Head of Tan Thanh Forest Ranger Station (now Phu My town); Chairman of Tan Hoa Commune People’s Committee and Chairman of Tan Hai Commune People’s Committee were assigned to clarify responsibilities and properly review the shortcomings and violations of individuals at the unit related to the violations of the pagoda.
Recommend that the Provincial Party Committee direct the Tan Thanh District Party Committee (now Phu My Town) to properly review the former Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Hoi Bai Commune in 1991, who is currently a member of the Standing Committee of the Town Party Committee.
Request the People’s Committee of Tan Thanh district (now Phu My town) to direct the cancellation of the previous confirmation of the People’s Committee of Hoi Bai commune on the application for land reclamation of 4 households (dated March 11, 1991) and the applications for transfer of farmland of households in 1992.
At the same time, assign the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the People’s Committee of Tan Thanh district (now the People’s Committee of Phu My town) and the People’s Committee of Tan Hoa commune to adjust the name of Mr. Vuong Tan Viet in the 3-level register (province, district and commune) for plot number 13, area 133m2, on map sheet number 30, Tan Hoa commune, to the name of the Provincial Protective Forest Management Board for this plot of land.
Thus, according to the content that the People’s Committee of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province inspected, Mr. Vuong Tan Viet (ie Venerable Thich Chan Quang) built a pagoda and many illegal constructions on protective forest land managed by the State.
However, since then, these items have continued to exist and have not been demolished in accordance with the law, which is not in accordance with the direction in the inspection conclusion of the People’s Committee of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province that: “It is necessary to handle the demolition to ensure the strictness of the law in handling illegal construction of religious facilities in the area”.