On 24/7, Le Ngoc Tuan, head of the Hue City Forest Protection Sub-department, stated that his unit has transferred the case file concerning the former Quang Cong commune leadership (now Phong Quang ward) illegally selling over 2.5 hectares of coastal protection forest in An Loc village to the Hue City Police for investigation.
The sub-department also reprimanded a local forest ranger responsible for monitoring the coastal protection forest for negligence.
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Over 2.5 hectares of coastal protection forest in An Loc village were sold by the former Quang Cong commune before the commune-ward merger. Photo: Vo Thanh |
Over 2.5 hectares of coastal protection forest in An Loc village were sold by the former Quang Cong commune before the commune-ward merger. Photo: Vo Thanh
According to a report from the Hue City People's Committee submitted to the Prime Minister and the Hue City Standing Committee, on 2/7, the northern Hue City Forest Protection unit discovered that 3.1416 hectares of sicklepod trees in An Loc village had been felled. This included over 2.5 hectares of protection forest and nearly 0.6 hectares of production forest in plots 152 and 161, compartment 1, sub-compartment 89. A total of 1,461 trees were cut down, 1,331 of which were within the protected forest. The illegally exploited forest area belongs to the coastal sand dune protection forest planting project (Project 661), planted in 2008.
The Hue City Forest Protection Sub-department determined that the Quang Cong Commune People's Committee had sold 8 hectares of production forest to Nguyen Van Quoc, residing in Phong Dien town, Hue City, for 85 million VND. This sale encroached upon 2.5843 hectares of planted forest designated as protection forest in plot 152 and 0.5573 hectares of production forest in plot 161, compartment 1, sub-compartment 89. Nguyen Van Quoc hired six people from Quang Tri province to carry out the logging over approximately 12 days from late April to early May.
Le Nguyen An, a land officer from Quang Cong commune, directed Quoc to the logging site, encompassing the entire area of An Loc village up to the electricity poles bordering the former Hai Duong commune. An regularly visited the site to supervise the operation. The harvested timber was transported by about 10 trucks and sold to Hue Bioenergy Joint Stock Company for 900,000 VND per ton.
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The barren coastal protection forest in An Loc village. Photo: Vo Thanh |
The barren coastal protection forest in An Loc village. Photo: Vo Thanh
Nguyen Van Quoc initially transferred the 85 million VND payment for the forest to Cao Thi Thuy, the treasurer of the Quang Cong Commune People's Committee. However, because the entire 8-hectare area agreed upon had not been logged, on 14/5, the Quang Cong Commune People's Committee instructed Thuy to return the 85 million VND to Quoc.
On 15/5, Nguyen Van Quoc transferred 30 million VND to Nguyen Dinh Thong, chairman of the Quang Cong Commune People's Committee, and delivered 35 million VND in cash to Le Nguyen Oai, vice-chairman of the Quang Cong Commune People's Committee, at Oai's office.
Vo Thanh
