Lavish building generates outcry
Source: Xinhua |
March 31, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
LOCAL authorities in Anhui Province have defended the scale of a government office complex under construction after Internet users said it is "eight times as large as the US White House."
A post on Tianya.com, one of China's most popular Internet forums, showed a picture of the new government building in Wangjiang County, Anqing City. The post claimed the building was too large and luxurious for the small, impoverished county. It ignited a flurry of online outrage.
The office complex stands on more than 120,000 square meters of farmland and the total floor area of the luxuriously decorated buildings amounts to 43,600 square meters, figures sharply contrasting the county's embarrassing fiscal situation, according to the post.
The city had dispatched an inspection team to evaluate the construction of the building, according to Wang Bing, an official in charge of Party discipline inspection in Anqing City.
The scope of the construction had been approved by the provincial development and reform commission, Wang added.
Meanwhile, Wang cited some violations, including an incomplete approval process. However, Wang said the city government had properly handled the luxurious decorations.
The multifunctional compound includes government offices, public facilities such as a library, museum, and an activity center for residents, and the county government had compensated farmers for all the farmland it acquired, Wang said.
However, some were not satisfied with the government's reply. Internet user Fang Wei said, "I don't understand why no official in the county government has been held accountable for the violation and I still doubt the city government's conclusion."
Pictures of fancy government buildings in other counties and cities, including the Wangjiang County government office complex, were also posted online.
A series of media reports and online discussions have exposed luxurious government buildings in recent years, and the central government has tightened rules about such projects. But some local governments continue spending extravagantly on office buildings.
A post on Tianya.com, one of China's most popular Internet forums, showed a picture of the new government building in Wangjiang County, Anqing City. The post claimed the building was too large and luxurious for the small, impoverished county. It ignited a flurry of online outrage.
The office complex stands on more than 120,000 square meters of farmland and the total floor area of the luxuriously decorated buildings amounts to 43,600 square meters, figures sharply contrasting the county's embarrassing fiscal situation, according to the post.
The city had dispatched an inspection team to evaluate the construction of the building, according to Wang Bing, an official in charge of Party discipline inspection in Anqing City.
The scope of the construction had been approved by the provincial development and reform commission, Wang added.
Meanwhile, Wang cited some violations, including an incomplete approval process. However, Wang said the city government had properly handled the luxurious decorations.
The multifunctional compound includes government offices, public facilities such as a library, museum, and an activity center for residents, and the county government had compensated farmers for all the farmland it acquired, Wang said.
However, some were not satisfied with the government's reply. Internet user Fang Wei said, "I don't understand why no official in the county government has been held accountable for the violation and I still doubt the city government's conclusion."
Pictures of fancy government buildings in other counties and cities, including the Wangjiang County government office complex, were also posted online.
A series of media reports and online discussions have exposed luxurious government buildings in recent years, and the central government has tightened rules about such projects. But some local governments continue spending extravagantly on office buildings.
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