Question about using 50m3 of dổi wood to build a traditional house in Anh Son district?

(Baonghean) - Through the hotline, Nghe An Newspaper received feedback on the construction of traditional houses in Anh Son district, which had issues of lack of transparency in the use of 50m3 of dổi wood donated by Xay Cham Bon district (Bolykhamxay province, Laos); since the end of May 2015, the Provincial People's Committee issued Conclusion No. 301 on this issue and directed the Anh Son District People's Committee to take measures to handle it before June 30, however, to date, it has not been implemented...

From Conclusion 301...

From 2010 to 2013, to serve the 50th anniversary celebration, Anh Son district has built a traditional house and repaired and upgraded the stadium with a total investment of nearly 6 billion VND (traditional house is over 2,869 million VND; repairing and upgrading the stadium is over 3,105 million VND). These two projects have been accepted and put into use.

The remaining amount of rosewood brought from Laos.

On February 3, 2015, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 478/QD.UBND-KT on the establishment of an interdisciplinary inspection team to inspect the construction of the Traditional House and the upgrading and repair of the Anh Son District Stadium. Through examining the records and verifying directly at the site, the inspection team under Decision No. 478 clarified a number of shortcomings and violations in the construction of these works.

Specifically: First, the preparation and appraisal of the estimates for the two projects of building traditional houses and repairing and upgrading the stadium were not accurate. Second, the construction supervision work was still irresponsible, leading to the phenomenon of contractors constructing wrong designs, using wrong types of materials, and signing acceptance certificates for incorrect actual construction volumes. Third, the construction of both projects was behind schedule according to the contracts signed by the parties. Fourth, the settlement of contracts for both projects was behind schedule according to the prescribed time.

The inspection team discovered and clarified violations in the settlement of construction costs of two projects with a total amount of over 378 million VND (of which, the Traditional House project was over 86 million VND; the stadium repair and upgrade project was over 292 million VND).

During the process of building traditional houses and stilt houses in the district, with the consent of the Provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 5263/QD.UBND, Anh Son district was allowed to transport 50m3 of group 2 and group 4 wood donated by Xaychambon district (Bolykhamxay province, Laos). The Management Board of Construction Investment Projects of Anh Son district signed a contract with Mr. Nguyen Trong Do (officer of Anh Son Protective Forest Management Board) to exploit and transport 50m3 of wood from Laos to make traditional room furniture. However, the procedures for contract liquidation have not been completed; the contract cost has not been approved for settlement.

On April 14, 2015, the Provincial Inspectorate issued Decision No. 100/QD.TTr to recover more than VND 292 million from Dai Tien Construction Joint Stock Company - the contractor for repairing and upgrading the stadium. In Conclusion No. 301 dated May 26, 2015 of the Provincial People's Committee, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Anh Son district requested: Reduce payment to Tan Binh Manh Construction and Trade Joint Stock Company (the contractor for the construction and installation of the Traditional House project) with an amount of over VND 86 million; Carry out procedures to liquidate the contract with Mr. Nguyen Trong Do. Urgently settle the cost of the contract for exploiting and transporting 50m3 of wood from Laos and making furniture for the Traditional House according to the provisions of law. Bring the remaining wood to the District People's Committee for management and use according to the purposes approved by the Provincial People's Committee; At the same time, organize serious review of collectives and individuals related to the above violations and shortcomings. Processing results report to Provincial People's Committee before June 30, 2015.

... around 50m3 of dổi wood

According to the investigation, up to now, the direction of the Provincial People's Committee in Conclusion No. 301 has not been implemented by the People's Committee of Anh Son district. Mr. Nguyen Khac Xuan, Head of the Finance and Planning Department of Anh Son district, explained that the reduction of payment to Tan Binh Manh Construction and Trading Joint Stock Company (the contractor for the construction of the Traditional House) with an amount of over 86 million VND has not been implemented because the People's Committee of the district still owes this unit a larger amount than the deduction. The reason is that the funding for the construction of the Traditional House is mainly from socialized sources; however, the amount of money raised has not reached the level that organizations and individuals initially registered, so the district has not had the source to pay. Regarding the implementation of the contract liquidation procedures with Mr. Nguyen Trong Do, the district has currently established an Appraisal Council to re-evaluate the contents that Mr. Do has performed; currently, the appraisal process is in progress, so the contract liquidation has not been completed. And therefore, the People's Committee of Anh Son district has not yet reviewed the related organizations and individuals.

Regarding the delay in terminating the contract with Mr. Nguyen Trong Do, after verification, there are some concerns. In order to build the Traditional House, Anh Son district was given 50m3 of Do wood by Xaychambon district; on the condition that Anh Son district must organize the exploitation and transportation. After receiving permission from the Provincial People's Committee, Anh Son district People's Committee signed a contract with Mr. Nguyen Trong Do to exploit and transport 50m3 of wood from Laos, and at the same time make 2 altars; 2 donation boxes; 2 incense chairs and 10 shelves for the Traditional House. To exploit and transport wood to Anh Son district and make furniture (4.2m3 of wood), Mr. Nguyen Trong Do spent 487.5 million VND. On October 16, 2014, Mr. Do explained to the People's Committee of Anh Son district (in the Balance Sheet of Contract Implementation Results), he sold 37.5m3 of Do wood exploited from Laos at the price of 13 million VND/m3, earning 487.5 million VND, just enough to cover the costs! The remaining wood was 8.3m3, but 5m3 were damaged (!?). Thus, with 50m3 of wood donated by Xaychambon district (Laos), only 4.2m3 of wood was used to build traditional houses; 37.5m3 of wood was used for exploitation and transportation; of the remaining 8.3m3, 5m3 were damaged.

Regarding the expenses and the sale of 37.5 cubic meters of dổi wood, Mr. Do said in an interview with reporters that he did it all himself, the district did not set up an appraisal council or organize an auction. “Because the district did not have the funds, it allowed me to sell the wood to cover the costs of exploitation, transportation and pay for the interior construction. The district gave me a free hand, so I just did it without anyone checking,” Mr. Do said.

Some furniture at Anh Son District Traditional House is made from 50m3 of dổi wood.

In the contract with Mr. Do, Anh Son district required him to "be" self-sufficient in investment funding and "to be converted from the above-mentioned wood" (!?). The question is why Anh Son district did not establish a budget for exploiting, transporting wood and making traditional house furniture? Why did they let an individual arbitrarily sell district-managed assets? Who is responsible for the 5m3 of damaged Do wood? Mr. Dang Ba Ky, Deputy Head of the Management Board of Construction Investment Projects of Anh Son district, said: "The exploitation and sale of wood to cover costs were all done by Mr. Do. At that time, I was the Deputy Head of the Technical Department, the person who signed the contract with Mr. Do, but I did not know how things were going, how the wood was used. Only when Mr. Do brought the altar and wooden shelves did I accept the handover, but I did not know what happened in reality...".

On June 18, 2015, Anh Son District People's Committee issued Decision 2462/QD-UBND to establish an Appraisal Council, chaired by Dang Ba Ky, Deputy Head of the Management Board of Construction Investment Projects. The Council's task is to determine the value of 50m3 of wood; determine the cost of exploitation, transportation, and labor costs for making traditional house furniture; determine the volume of wood used and the remaining unused wood; and from there, serve as a basis for contract liquidation. In fact, the exploitation and transportation of wood from Laos is quite complicated. However, based on what has been learned, Anh Son District People's Committee and the Management Board of Construction Investment Projects of this district have shown signs of laxity in management. Therefore, although a Council has been established for appraisal, it is difficult to ensure objectivity in the appraisal and the liquidation of Contract No. 16/HD-KT will also be difficult for the parties involved to ensure compliance with the law. I think that the Provincial Inspectorate is the unit assigned by the Provincial People's Committee to urge the implementation of Conclusion No. 301, so it is necessary to have a solution. Otherwise, it is difficult to avoid public opinion continuing to have complaints; while the conclusion of the Provincial People's Committee is slow to be implemented!

PV Group