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Illegal steel factory shut down after students' plea
By Li Qian |
November 5, 2011, Saturday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
AN unlicensed steel factory in central Hubei Province was ordered to suspend operations after dozens of students and lecturers from a nearby university knelt down in protest over what they say is toxic waste being emitted.
The factory, just 500 meters away from Changjiang University in Jingzhou City, had its electricity supply cut off by the local authority and stopped operations on Thursday afternoon, Nanfang Daily reported today.
Staff claimed inhaling fumes and dust from the plant left them with headaches and sore throats. Some also linked the emissions to cases of leukemia.
Staff and students, including elderly professors, are reported to have knelt down outside the Jingzhou District government building on Wednesday morning, carrying banners reading, "clamp down on the illegal steel factory."
But, according to the newspaper, comments by a deputy director at the factory led to angry exchanges.
"Africa isn't polluted. You can move there," the director is reported to have said.
Angry protesters then moved to Jingzhou City government building, returning to campus at around 2pm after the city government promised to shut down the factory, the report said.
The university is said to have lodged numerous complaints with the local authorities and State Council since 2007, when the illegal factory was established, without response.
The factory continued to process steel bars, expanding production over the past three years, the report said.
The Jingzhou environmental protection administration claimed it order ordered the factory to close on August 31.
But senior officers of Jingzhou City didn't agree with the move, claimed a professor at Changjiang University, but production continued.
The factory, just 500 meters away from Changjiang University in Jingzhou City, had its electricity supply cut off by the local authority and stopped operations on Thursday afternoon, Nanfang Daily reported today.
Staff claimed inhaling fumes and dust from the plant left them with headaches and sore throats. Some also linked the emissions to cases of leukemia.
Staff and students, including elderly professors, are reported to have knelt down outside the Jingzhou District government building on Wednesday morning, carrying banners reading, "clamp down on the illegal steel factory."
But, according to the newspaper, comments by a deputy director at the factory led to angry exchanges.
"Africa isn't polluted. You can move there," the director is reported to have said.
Angry protesters then moved to Jingzhou City government building, returning to campus at around 2pm after the city government promised to shut down the factory, the report said.
The university is said to have lodged numerous complaints with the local authorities and State Council since 2007, when the illegal factory was established, without response.
The factory continued to process steel bars, expanding production over the past three years, the report said.
The Jingzhou environmental protection administration claimed it order ordered the factory to close on August 31.
But senior officers of Jingzhou City didn't agree with the move, claimed a professor at Changjiang University, but production continued.
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