VietNamNet Bridge – Each resident of Dong Coc Village in the northern province of Bac Ninh received VND10 million (US$440) after the 200-year-old sua tree at the communal village house was sold for VND24.5 billion (near $1.1 million) in an auction last August.

Illustrative image -- File photo

Native women who got married and moved away, or those who moved to live in the Thuan Thanh District village, received VND5 million ($220).

This was a happy end to a somewhat turbulent saga.  

The tree, which was chopped down last Saturday, was one of two sua trees (Dalbergia Tonkinensis Prain) at the communal house. It was offered for sale after being diagnosed “rotten to dead”.

But months later rumors spread that someone was willing to pay VND50 billion for the valuable lumber, while the local authorities said the tree had been sold for only VND24 billion. Angry villagers even mounted a protest.

It turned out that the buyer thought he was buying a very valuable tree and was willing to shell out a large sum of money. It then transpired that the man, a wood furniture maker from Dong Ky Village in Bac Ninh Province, realised the rot had spread over a wide area and he would get far less timber than he expected.

He nonetheless paid VND24 billion and sweetened the pot with an additional VND1.5 billion to help the village improve public works and local production facilities. 

VNS