Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has ordered the the central province of Binh Dinh's Police Department to quickly complete its investigation into 60ha of a local forest being illegally chopped down in An Lao District’s An Hung Commune in late August.

Representatives of local authorised agencies at the scene of the deforestation in An Hung Commune. 

Dũng required the police to urgently bring the case to court and make public all information after completing the investigation.

The police were also told to clarify whether local authorised agencies or the forest ranger force were involved, Dũng said.

Any individual or organisation found to be assisting the poachers must be strictly deal with following regulations, he added.

Earlier, residents uncovered the forest destruction and informed the local forest ranger force late August.

On September 9, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered an investigation into the serious deforestation and demanded a report before October 30.

On September 15, local police discovered a large quantity of wood at a woodchip factory operated by Thuong Thao Trading JSC, based in Quy Nhon City. The wood was suspected to have originated from the destroyed forest. The company’s business activities range from construction and hotel management to wood manufacturing and forest plantation for economic purposes. The wood-chip factory is located in Tuong Son Village, 10km from the site of the forest.

At that time, Binh Dinh authorities confirmed that no one had been licensed to use the forest “for commercial purposes”.

On September 21, the police detained two suspects in connection with the forest destruction -- Phan De, 57, and Nguyen Van Ri, 42, both from Hoai Nhon District.

According to initial investigation, the two hired some people from Ba To District in the central province of Quang Ngai, as well as locals, to cut down portions of the forest in An Hung Commune.

On October 9, the police remanded Le Van Thiet, 55, of Hoai Nhon District’s Hoai Son Commune, to four months for investigating the deforestation activities. Thiet was the general director of Thuong Thao Joint Stock Company.

Following initial investigation, the police also suspected Thiet to be the mastermind behind the illegal cutting down of 61ha of natural forest in An Lao District. — VNS