The story appears on

Page A7

December 21, 2010

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

HomeNation

Officials suspended for illegal villa construction

A STATE-owned power supply authority has suspended several officials who were held responsible for building an illegal villa complex in a poverty-stricken county in Henan Province and bought the villas at knockdown prices.

The Shangqiu Power Supply Administration launched an investigation into the officials with the Yucheng Power Supply Bureau who are living in a cluster of 61 three-story luxury villas, each with a floor area of some 300 square meters, in Yucheng County, where a large number of the population are struggling under the national poverty line and cannot afford even a small apartment, yesterday's Henan Daily reported.

Yucheng County is on a poverty relief list as its annual per capita income is lower than 1,300 yuan (US$195).

The Shangqiu administration, which oversees the Yucheng bureau, did not name the officials.

Most of the villa owners were former or incumbent heads of the Yucheng bureau, including a former chief and a former deputy chief, who paid only 400 yuan per square meter, less than half the market price in Yucheng, according to China Central Television.

Other bureau employees bought villas at 500 yuan per square meter, CCTV said.

The bureau got approval for the use of the land for office buildings in June 2003.

The housing and urban planning authorities of Yucheng County said they didn't know details about the villa project as "the original documents had been lost," CCTV reported.

Geng Jianshe, an official with the land and resources bureau in Yucheng, said they did give the green light for an office building project as was specified in the application document.

As the villas were sold at half the market price, how the shortfall of the construction fee was made up also remains a question.


 

Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

娌叕缃戝畨澶 31010602000204鍙

Email this to your friend