Questionable golf course and villas
The Guiyang government plans to build a high-end resort in the Dongfeng area. Golf is adored by many wealthy people. In Guiyang, Happy Bay International's advertisements can be seen everywhere showing the sport of golf.
In February 2003, the Ministry of Land and Resources issued a notification to stop providing lands for use in constructing villas. In May 2005, the Ministry restated this restriction on villa-building land use. And in 2008, even the State Council issued a notification to stop such providing of land for villa construction.
As for the golf course, it is much more questionable that the State Council once clearly issued a notification to stop any more construction of golf courses. In June this year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Supervision, Ministry of Land and Resources, and eight other departments jointly released a notification to ask local governments to rectify the golf course situation.
It is clear that the central government has made strict regulations limiting the construction of golf courses and villas. Thus, how can the Happy Bay International project so visibly start a 5000-acre golf course?
The sales woman at Happy Bay International emphasized that the project had completed all necassary procedures, "otherwise we would not have been able to get the permission of sale."
Expropriated Farmlands
Happy Bay International is claiming 12,255 acres of land for its project. However, according to an employee from the Guiyang Land and Resources Bureau, the project's scheduled lands are 5,000 acres and up to now 1,300 acres have been examined and approved. But a villager said the project has already taken up 7,000 acres.
Regarding the villagers' questions about "Hongde Company occupying farmland for a golf course," the Guiyang Land and Resources Bureau said the company did not occupy farmlands as villagers described.
On May 5, 2010, the fourth Guiyang Tourism Industrial Development Summit was held at the Happy Bay International Eco-sports Park, in which the eco-sports park opening ceremony was later held.
"The summit ended long ago. Why has no one mentioned the returning of our lands?" In many villagers' view, it is impossible to get their farmlands back; even more terrible is that the expropriated lands are expanding. And no one appears to explain the reasons to villagers.
Employees from the Guiyang Land and Resources Bureau said that these lands had been converted into reserved lands for infrastructure construction. According to the Land Management Law, when arable lands are expropriated for non-agricultural land use, the cultivation of the same amount of arable land somewhere else is required. Thus, the owners of the expropriated arable lands should be allowed to cultivate some arable lands in southeast Guizhou Province as compensation.
