On July 7, Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Secretary of the Party Committee of Kong Bo La commune, Gia Lai province - said that he had directed the Commune Inspection Committee and the Inspectorate to clarify the case of cutting down 17 trees in the premises of the People's Committee of Dong commune (old).
Kong Bo La commune was established on the basis of merging 3 communes including: Nghia An, Kong Bo La and Dong commune.
At the time of the administrative unit merger, Dong commune had cut down 17 trees, mainly acacia trees, with a trunk diameter of about 25-50 cm.
Mr. Nguyen Dang Chung - former Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong commune (old) - said that cutting down trees is to deal with the situation of forestry, mosquitoes causing disease and potential danger when the rainy season comes.
Based on the agreed content of the Commune Board of Directors, Mr. Chung contacted local tree buyers to cut down 17 trees.
The People's Committee of the commune assigned a oral contract to a man named Loi to hire workers to cut down and transport the trees for sale.
With a weight of 16,510kg of wood, after deducting the cost of cutting and transporting, the commune earned 9 million VND. This amount was assigned to the treasurer of the management agency to serve the repair of the brick floor and repaint the office at the headquarters.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Secretary of the Party Committee of Kong Bo La commune, the trees in the premises of the commune People's Committee headquarters are identified as public assets. Therefore, the old commune government needs to carry out the sale and liquidation of assets according to the State's procedures and regulations.
"The Kong Bo La Commune Party Committee requested Mr. Nguyen Dang Chung personally to write a review. At the same time, when the Inspection Committee collects records and documents to clarify responsibilities, if violations are detected, they will be handled according to the provisions of law, said Mr. Dung.
Previously, Lao Dong Newspaper reported that during the time of merging and rearranging commune-level administrative units, the People's Committee of Cheo Reo Ward (old Ayun Pa Town) arbitrarily cut down many large cajuput trees in the headquarters premises.
The amount of money from selling the trees was 8 million VND. The discovery has caused public outrage and outrage among local people. The Ministry of Finance requested the People's Committee of Gia Lai province to direct competent authorities to inspect and clarify the management, use and handling of public assets at the People's Committee of Cheo Reo ward (old).
