The village head used money intended to support poor households raising cattle to build a road.

The chairman and accountant of Son Binh commune (Ha Tinh province) were reprimanded for using funds intended to support poor households in buying cows to build concrete roads.

On September 1st, the People's Committee of Huong Son district (Ha Tinh province) announced that it had issued a disciplinary warning to Mr. Cu Xuan Dien (Chairman of the People's Committee of Son Binh commune) and Ms. Phan Thi Mau Thuong (financial and accounting officer of the commune) for allowing violations to occur in which village officials used funds intended to support the purchase of cattle from poor households to build concrete roads for new rural development projects.

Huong Son District asserts that the village heads' misconduct was covered up by the commune level. Mr. Dien neglected his duties, failing to organize inspections, supervision, and acceptance procedures to create dossiers for purchasing buffalo and cattle breeds, and did not take measures to prevent the villages from using funds for improper purposes. Accountant Thuong was irresponsible in advising and accepting applications to create dossiers for purchasing buffalo and cattle breeds, violating regulations and principles in disbursing money to households.

Previously, many poor households in five villages of Son Binh commune complained about this issue. The village heads took a total of over 200 million VND to fund road construction. This money was allocated from the 2016 poverty alleviation support program under Program 135.

The commune authorities reported being unaware of these actions. "Many village heads stated that the villagers voluntarily donated or temporarily lent money to the hamlet for rural development projects," Chairman Cù Xuân Điền explained.

The process of refunding money to some households has now begun.

According to VNE