Officials to leave office to honor quake pledge
By Feng Jianmin |
January 24, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
GOVERNMENT officials in Chengdu City, capital of Sichuan Province, say they will vacate luxury offices, after being accused of breaking a promise to auction off the buildings to help victims of the 2008 earthquake.
This follows pressure from popular blogger Han Han who questioned why the government had not moved out.
Chengdu government office said on Saturday that the municipal government has donated 1.5 billion yuan (US$228 million) in the past two years through selling and leasing five of the six buildings. Government departments now "temporarily" working in the remaining building will "gradually move out," a statement on government-backed portal newssc.org said.
The plush complex, designated as an administrative office center of the municipal government of Chengdu, cost 1.2 billion yuan to build when it was completed in 2007, official data showed.
After a magnitude-8.0 earthquake hit Sichuan Province in 2008, killing more than 69,000 people, the Chengdu government said it would auction the complex and donate the money raised to help re-construct the affected areas.
Han Han, a professional rally driver and best-selling writer, wrote in his blog last Thursday citing a Chengdu reporter, surnamed Zheng, who claimed that "some government departments have quietly moved into the new administrative center recently and all local media are not allowed to talk about the issue."
Han said the reporter tried to contact various government bodies for comment but got nowhere.
The government said most offices in the complex have been let to banks, insurers, and financial regulatory bodies in the province.
This follows pressure from popular blogger Han Han who questioned why the government had not moved out.
Chengdu government office said on Saturday that the municipal government has donated 1.5 billion yuan (US$228 million) in the past two years through selling and leasing five of the six buildings. Government departments now "temporarily" working in the remaining building will "gradually move out," a statement on government-backed portal newssc.org said.
The plush complex, designated as an administrative office center of the municipal government of Chengdu, cost 1.2 billion yuan to build when it was completed in 2007, official data showed.
After a magnitude-8.0 earthquake hit Sichuan Province in 2008, killing more than 69,000 people, the Chengdu government said it would auction the complex and donate the money raised to help re-construct the affected areas.
Han Han, a professional rally driver and best-selling writer, wrote in his blog last Thursday citing a Chengdu reporter, surnamed Zheng, who claimed that "some government departments have quietly moved into the new administrative center recently and all local media are not allowed to talk about the issue."
Han said the reporter tried to contact various government bodies for comment but got nowhere.
The government said most offices in the complex have been let to banks, insurers, and financial regulatory bodies in the province.
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