Villager claims valuable find
By Li Qian |
July 10, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A VILLAGER in southwestern Sichuan Province who excavated pieces of rare, semi-fossilized timber worth an estimated 20 million yuan (US$3.14 million), has decided to sue the local government for seizing it and giving him just 70,000 yuan as "reward."
Wu Gaoliang, resident in Pengzhou City's Tongji Town, accused the township government of "abusing power" and "seizing the ownership" of the batch of precious Phoebe zhennan wood he found in his contracted farm field.
Phoebe zhennan was most prized in ancient China and only royal families and temples could use it. The semi-fossilized timber he found had been buried for millions of years and is especially valuable, the Chengdu Economic Daily reported yesterday.
"The government should have obtained court approval to take possession of this timber before it was dug out," Wu said, adding that he and the government are equal.
Wu said he had spent 200,000 yuan unearthing precious timber, but he was ordered to stop his excavation after government officials were tipped off.
He demanded the government either offer him a cash reward of 4 million yuan or return the timber.
A 34-meter-long, 6-ton trunk was among a total of seven trees found, the paper said.
But the town officials quoted the Chinese law saying that objects without an owner and buried in the ground belong to the state. Ding Wuming, head of the Pengzhou City Museum, said the precious timber could hold information on the ancient climate and the environment.
Wu Gaoliang, resident in Pengzhou City's Tongji Town, accused the township government of "abusing power" and "seizing the ownership" of the batch of precious Phoebe zhennan wood he found in his contracted farm field.
Phoebe zhennan was most prized in ancient China and only royal families and temples could use it. The semi-fossilized timber he found had been buried for millions of years and is especially valuable, the Chengdu Economic Daily reported yesterday.
"The government should have obtained court approval to take possession of this timber before it was dug out," Wu said, adding that he and the government are equal.
Wu said he had spent 200,000 yuan unearthing precious timber, but he was ordered to stop his excavation after government officials were tipped off.
He demanded the government either offer him a cash reward of 4 million yuan or return the timber.
A 34-meter-long, 6-ton trunk was among a total of seven trees found, the paper said.
But the town officials quoted the Chinese law saying that objects without an owner and buried in the ground belong to the state. Ding Wuming, head of the Pengzhou City Museum, said the precious timber could hold information on the ancient climate and the environment.
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