VietNamNet Bridge – Two officials of Cu Lao Dung District's An Thanh Dong Commune will be punished for misappropriating tens of millions of dong from national programmes, says the district people's committee chairman Le Van Hieu.

District investigators discovered the misdeeds of commune party cell secretary Vo Hoang Long and people's committee chairman Nguyen Cong Trang after residents denounced them for embezzlement.

According to people in An Thanh Dong Commune, the commune authorities extracted VND240 million ($11,000) from a national programme to help poor households buy sugarcane seedlings and breeding animals.

Long and Trang bought cane seedlings which they claimed cost VND2.5 million ($120) per tonne, which was VND1 million ($48) higher than what they actually paid. They pocketed a total of VND7 million ($330).

They also signed a contract to buy 106 baby pigs in Tra Vinh Province at a cost of VND1.3 million per 9-12kg pig whereas the market price for a 13-14kg pig was around VND1 million. They kept a total of VND21 million ($1,000) for themselves.

Meanwhile, the happiness of the people receiving the free breeding pigs was shortlived as many of the pigs died, some within 10 days.

Also, investigators found that the two officials had permitted their staff to withdraw VND1.2 billion ($57,000) from Government funds to build houses for the poor and deposit it into a bank to gain interest for themselves.

As a consequence, poor families who were building their houses did not received their money on time.

In addition, Long sold decayed steel bridge spans over Long Dam channel for VND18 million ($860) without recording it in the local budget. The bridge was built from public contributions.

Long also made a fake declaration so his son could get free tertiary education as a poor resident.

Interviewed by a Vietnam News Agency correspondent, the district chairman said district authorities had ordered the two officials to repay the money they had pocketed.

He said the interest on the bank deposit would be paid into the commune's fund for the poor, while money from the sale of the steel bridge spans would go to the commune's budget for public purposes.

The district police have been called on to punish commune police who made fake documents for Long's child.

The district's finance and planning departments are required to scrutinise the disbursement of Government support funds to ensure they are used in accordance with regulations.

VietNamNet/VNS