9 officials punished in Hebei land grab scam
By Zhang Xuanchen |
May 25, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NINE officials in north China's Hebei Province were punished after investigation showed thousands of hundreds of hectares of farmland was illegally confiscated from farmers and resold to real estate developers.
Zhang Guijin, director of Xianghe County, faces ouster after a legislative review. Zhou Chunhua, chief of the county land and resources bureau, was sacked, the People's Daily said yesterday, citing the provincial Department of Supervision.
The other seven officials were removed from their posts or got disciplinary warnings.
The officials were ordered to recover the farmland that was illegally grabbed for commercial use and return it to farmers, according to a statement by Hebei government.
At least 266 hectares of land were grabbed by Xianghe government by paying 18,000 yuan (US$2,769) per hectare each year to farmers since 2008.
A villa complex was built on the land in late 2009 and its developer said it obtained the land by paying 9 million yuan for each hectare.
Farmers were forced to sign agreements while those who resisted were fined or harassed by hired mobsters.
This sparked public anger and prompted the Xianghe government to "make corrections in land use." To pass inspection, county officials vowed on May 16 to work on some 66.7 hectares of ravaged land, but it only sent workers later to sow seeds and covered them with a thick layer of soil. Local farmers complained they could never plant anything on the land again, as a large part of it was cemented with water pipes in place.
Zhang Guijin, director of Xianghe County, faces ouster after a legislative review. Zhou Chunhua, chief of the county land and resources bureau, was sacked, the People's Daily said yesterday, citing the provincial Department of Supervision.
The other seven officials were removed from their posts or got disciplinary warnings.
The officials were ordered to recover the farmland that was illegally grabbed for commercial use and return it to farmers, according to a statement by Hebei government.
At least 266 hectares of land were grabbed by Xianghe government by paying 18,000 yuan (US$2,769) per hectare each year to farmers since 2008.
A villa complex was built on the land in late 2009 and its developer said it obtained the land by paying 9 million yuan for each hectare.
Farmers were forced to sign agreements while those who resisted were fined or harassed by hired mobsters.
This sparked public anger and prompted the Xianghe government to "make corrections in land use." To pass inspection, county officials vowed on May 16 to work on some 66.7 hectares of ravaged land, but it only sent workers later to sow seeds and covered them with a thick layer of soil. Local farmers complained they could never plant anything on the land again, as a large part of it was cemented with water pipes in place.
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