Da Nang company compensates family $500 for felling tree

Police of Hoa Khanh Nam District on Wednesday summoned representatives of the Phuoc Ly Xanh company and the family at house No. 56 on Nguyen Khac Nhu Street to deal with the matter.

The company said it was willing to replace the lost tree with another one, as well as compensating the family for cutting the tree down unannounced.

The Phuoc Ly Xanh company has a contract with authorities to prune and cut down trees for natural disaster prevention on roads spanning below 7.5 m in width in three wards, including Hoa Khanh Nam.

On Nov. 27, workers saw an 8-m-tall sua tree (Dalbergia tonkinensis) that showed signs of dryness in front of house No. 56 on Nguyen Khac Nhu Street, so they requested it to be cut down.

The director of the company, Pham Phu Dung, agreed with the request and brought what was left of the tree to a collection point.

At the time the tree was cut down, the owner of the house was neither home nor informed of the decision, so they thought the tree was stolen and reported the matter to the police. The owner said they bought the tree eight years ago for VND5 million ($206).

When the owner learned that the tree was cut down by the company without informing the family, director Dung on Tuesday contacted the house owner and offered to replace the tree, but the offer was refused.

At the police station, the representative of the Phuoc Ly Xanh company said the cutting down of the tree was carried out improperly.

"If the house's owner was not home, then the cutting must be suspended," they said, adding that the unfortunate incident happened as workers were trying to meet quotas.