Gia Lai: Cutting down a series of trees at the commune headquarters to sell firewood, showing signs of violations

Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Secretary of the Party Committee of Kong Bo La commune, responded about the cutting down of trees in the premises of Dong commune (old).

On July 7, Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Secretary of the Party Committee of Kong Bo La commune ( Gia Lai province) said that he had assigned the Inspection Committee of the Party Committee of the commune to inspect and clarify the cutting down of trees in the premises of the old Dong commune headquarters before the time of rearranging commune-level administrative units.

Kong Bo La commune was established after the arrangement of three communes: Nghia An, Kong Bo La and Dong. After the arrangement, the headquarters of the commune Party Committee and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the commune were located at the headquarters of Dong commune (old).

On June 21 and 22, many trees in the old Dong commune were cut down. The trees cut down were acacia, green, and banyan.

At the scene, reporters recorded that the trees had been cut down, leaving only stumps. Many of the trees had stumps as big as a person could hug.

Mr. Nguyen Dang Chung, former Chairman of Dong Commune People's Committee, currently an officer of Kong Bo La Commune Public Administration Service Center, explained that on June 17, a delegation from the People's Committee of Kbang District (old) surveyed and directed him to organize cleaning, pruning trees, and re-tiling some locations at the headquarters to ensure general aesthetics before the Party Committee - Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the district returned to work.

The Commune People's Committee verbally contracted to hire people to cut and transport trees for sale, totaling more than 16.5 tons of firewood.

After deducting the cost of cutting and transportation, the remaining amount of 9 million VND was given to the management agency's treasurer to repair the tile floor and repaint the offices at the headquarters.

Tree cutting is to deal with the problem of dense trees causing mosquitoes, some branches broken due to storms, losing the aesthetic, and at the same time taking advantage of the source of firewood to sell to fund agency repairs.

A tree was cut down and only the stump remained.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Secretary of the Kong Bo La Commune Party Committee, said that through initial review, the tree cutting was not in accordance with regulations and showed signs of violations.

"The extent of the violations will await the conclusion of the Inspection Committee, after which the Commune Party Committee will direct strict handling according to regulations," said Mr. Nguyen Van Dung.