Strictly discipline Quy Chau district officials for illegal deforestation

(Baonghean) -Because of her involvement in the deforestation of nearly 2 hectares of forest, Ms. Tran Thi Hai Van - an officer of the Land Use Registration Office was fined 21 million VND by the People's Committee of Quy Chau district for administrative violations. Not only that, she will also be subject to disciplinary action.

>>>Female district official fined 21 million VND for deforestation

For quite a long time, in Quy Chau district, there has been a situation where brokers have hired people to exploit and impoverish forest resources (photo taken in 2014 in Ke Ninh village, Chau Hanh commune).

Helping to destroy forests

The deforestation case that Ms. Tran Thi Hai Van was involved in occurred in early April 2016. This forest area has status 1C, located in plot 35, lot 1, compartment 5, sub-area 197 Na Pha Vang Doong, Nam Bong area, Chau Hanh commune (Quy Chau). Specifically, in 2014, the People's Committee of Chau Hanh commune organized a survey to hand over the forest site to a number of families in the area.

Among the households, there is Ms. Vu Thi Bang, residing in Ke Bang village, who is expected to be allocated a forest plot of over 8.3 hectares, status 1C, plot 35, lot 1, plot 5, sub-area 197 Na Pha Vang Doong. However, the allocation of forest land is only based on the drawing of lots to allocate the forest site, and the competent authority has not yet made a decision on land allocation.

In February 2016, Ms. Vu Thi Bang submitted a request to the People's Committee of Chau Hanh Commune to clear the forest and plant acacia trees, but the commune government has not yet agreed. On February 22, 2016, Ms. Vu Thi Bang called Ms. Tran Thi Hai Van to her house and discussed pooling capital to clear the forest and plant acacia trees on the 5 hectares of forest land that she was expected to be assigned.

Specifically, Ms. Van paid for seeds and fertilizers, while Ms. Bang was responsible for clearing the forest, and when the harvest time came, the proceeds would be divided 50/50. The content of the agreement between the two parties was put into writing, but neither of them signed it because they had to ask for the opinions of family members. Because Ms. Van's husband, Mr. Luong Van Tuan, did not agree, the contract was later destroyed. Because Ms. Bang had previously asked Ms. Van to keep 6,000,000 VND for her, Ms. Bang asked and authorized Ms. Van to hire someone to cut down and clear the forest. Due to their neighborly relationship, and Ms. Bang being a person with poor circumstances and limited knowledge, Ms. Van agreed to act as her representative.

On March 28, 2016, Ms. Van went to Vi Van Doanh's house (residing in Na Xen village, Chau Hanh commune) to discuss the issue of forest cutting and clearing. Vi Van Doanh agreed and called people to join. In early April 2016, Vi Van Doanh, Luong Van Meo, Loc Van Chau (all residing in Na Xen village) went to Ms. Van's house to discuss and agreed on the cost of forest cutting and clearing at 2.2 million VND/ha; the area of ​​forest cutting and clearing was 5ha. After reaching an agreement, Ms. Van gave Doanh an advance of 1 million VND.

Immediately after receiving the advance payment, Vi Van Doanh, Luong Thi Nhung, Luong Van Meo, Vi Thi Khuyen, Loc Van Chau, Vi Thi Ngo, Loc Van Chung, Ha Thi Hang, Ha Van Son, Lang Thi Tuyet (all residing in Na Xen village) proceeded to cut down the forest area that Mrs. Bang was expected to be assigned. After 2 days of cutting down, Mrs. Van went to Doanh's house to continue giving this group an advance payment of 2 million VND.

On April 5, 2016, when the group was cutting down the forest, they were discovered by the authorities and were suspended. At this time, over 1.9 hectares of forest had been completely cut down. After being suspended for 10 days, Luong Thi Nhung, Vi Thi Ngo, and Ha Thi Hang went to Ms. Van's house to receive an additional 2 million VND. In total, Ms. Van paid 5 million VND to the group who hired them to cut down the forest. Of which, 4.4 million VND was for wages as agreed, and 600,000 VND was for the group's party (according to Ms. Bang's idea).

After the investigation and verification process, Investigation Team 3861 determined that Mr. and Mrs. Vi Van Doanh, Luong Thi Nhung, Luong Van Meo, Vi Thi Khuyen, Loc Van Chau, Vi Thi Ngo, Loc Van Chung, Ha Thi Hang, Ha Van Son, Lang Thi Tuyet were identified as hired workers who did not know whether the forest was cleared or not, so it was proposed not to prosecute. Mr. Luong Anh Tuan (Ms. Tran Thi Hai Van's husband) was determined to have no specific actions related to the incident.

Regarding Ms. Vu Thi Bang, the investigation team believes that, before receiving the land allocation decision, she arbitrarily and proactively hired people to cut down the forest on an area of ​​over 1.9 hectares, affecting the regeneration of the protected forest area.

Although Ms. Bang's actions did not constitute a criminal offense, they violated Decree 157/2013/ND-CP regulating administrative sanctions for violations of forest management, forest development, forest protection and forest product management. As for Ms. Tran Thi Hai Van, a civil servant with legal knowledge, she helped Ms. Bang hire people to clear the forest, and directly negotiated prices and paid the hired workers, leading to damage to the forest. Therefore, Investigation Team 3861 determined that she was an accomplice.

Discipline strictly to set an example

Large milkwood trees in Khe Quyen forest in Ke Tan 2, Chau Hoi commune. This forest was assigned to local people to protect and preserve, but were also cut down. (Photo courtesy)

For a long time, Quy Chau district has been a hot spot for illegal trading and transfer of forest land; indiscriminate deforestation. Up to now, the authorities have investigated and determined that in Quy Chau, 11/12 communes have violated the illegal transfer of forest land with 486 households/3,433 hectares (with land use right certificates and including temporarily assigned forest land).

In order to rectify the situation of illegal transfer of forest land and prevent deforestation, since the beginning of 2016, Quy Chau district has handled 116 cases of forest encroachment; of which, the District Police are receiving files for investigation in 3 cases; 1 case has been brought to a mobile trial (2 related subjects were sentenced to pay compensation to the state budget 150 million VND and serve 15 years in prison).

Regarding the case of destroying more than 1.9 hectares of forest status 1c, plot 35, lot 1, compartment 5, sub-area 197 Na Pha Vang Doong, as the direct management level, Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee was initially assigned to directly conduct the investigation and verification. However, the investigation of this commune was not guaranteed, and was returned by the District People's Committee for further investigation and clarification because there were signs that the current officials were behind it.

Some time later, realizing that the Chau Hanh commune government could not handle the task, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district established an Investigation Team in Decision No. 3861 to re-verify the case. Based on the investigation results of the Investigation Team, on October 19, 2016, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district issued Decisions No. 3986 and 3897/QD-XPVPHC to fine Ms. Vu Thi Bang and Ms. Tran Thi Hai Van a total of 41 million VND (Ms. Van was fined 21 million VND) for administrative violations: Illegal deforestation.

The issue is that Ms. Tran Thi Hai Van is a civil servant but has acted in a way that facilitated illegal deforestation. How will Quy Chau district handle it? According to the person in charge, in addition to being administratively punished, Ms. Van will also be subject to disciplinary action. Because Ms. Tran Thi Hai Van is a cadre under the management of the District Party Committee, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district is requesting the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee to consider and give direction.

Having investigated the illegal purchase, sale and transfer of forest land, we determined that in Quy Chau district and some other districts and towns in the province, among the subjects who illegally purchase and transfer forest land are cadres and party members. The illegal purchase, sale and transfer of forest land and deforestation is becoming a problem.

For a long time, when the authorities prosecuted or imposed administrative penalties, most of the subjects were citizens, and they were mostly "substitutes" for the ringleaders, including officials and party members. Therefore, to rectify the situation, it is necessary to detect and strictly handle officials who illegally bought, sold, transferred, and used forest land for purposes other than their intended use. Thereby, setting an example for officials and party members, ensuring the strictness of the law, and creating trust among the people.

Ha Giang