Four officials were arrested for allowing people to build lakes on the mountain, destroying protective forest areas.
Mr. Le Van Sinh, 52 years old, and three others were arrested on charges of allowing a man to illegally build a lake on Thi Vai mountain, destroying nearly 18,000 square meters of protective forest.
On July 12, Mr. Sinh; Nguyen Kim Binh (37 years old, both officers of the Vung Tau - Phu My Forest Protection Department); Ta Thanh Tung, 33 years old and Tran Xuan Huong (34 years old, both officers of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province Forest Protection Management Board) were temporarily detained for two months by the Phu My Town Police for their acts.Lack of responsibility causes serious consequencesweightaccording to Article 360 of the Penal Code.
The defendants were assigned to manage Thi Vai protective forest but allowed Tran Quang Minh (48 years old, living in Ho Chi Minh City) to build a lake on the mountain, destroying a large area of forest there.
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| Mr. Sinh (left) and Binh listen to the police read the decision to temporarily detain them. Photo:Nguyen Manh |
According to the investigation, in 2019, Mr. Minh bought a 10,000 m2 plot of land at the foot of Thi Vai mountain, in Tan Phuoc ward, Phu My town and was granted a red book. In 2020, Mr. Minh pooled money with others to continue buying a nearby orchard and forest plantation, 18,000 m2 wide, for 300 million VND.
After that, Mr. Minh cut down trees, hired an excavator to plow the land on the mountain down to level it, and then used stones to create steps. In addition, he also dug up the land and used stones to create two artificial lakes. During the construction process, many large rocks were discovered, so Minh hired workers to split them to make embankments and pave the road.
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| Two officers of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Forest Protection Management Board. Photo:Nguyen Manh |
However, the authorities of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province determined that the above area is a protective forest with the function of preventing erosion and protecting underground water sources, and has been assigned to the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Protective Forest Management Board for management. Mr. Minh's actions caused a loss of 170 million VND.
Last August, Minh was arrested for his behavior.Forest destruction.
