Fancy offices common in townships: report
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The knockoff Xinhua Gate is the government building of Huaixiang Town in Guangdong Province. |
Du Xiaoshan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times Monday that some local governments have ignored the national regulations and other relative rules.
"These township buildings are in violation of the relative regulations," said Du. He said that those local governments may be spending more than necessary.
The government building in Jianghu township was built in 1970 and has proven to be unsafe but the township government failed to disclose the problem since they have no alternative.
Meng Zhenyao, a commentator, praised the shabby government buildings in Jianghu by saying that the government should focus on helping people with their problems rather than enjoy fancy office space.
"Actually, without luxurious government buildings and government vehicles, the local government could run well," Meng said.
On March 5, Premiere Wen Jiabao reiterated in the Government Work Report at the National People's Congress that the central government would continue to reduce the expense on government buildings.
"It is strictly not allowed to construct office buildings, large halls, and guest houses. It is forbidden to decorate government buildings with luxurious materials," Wen said in the report.
