Officials named, shamed for illegal constructions
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Some 88 local officials in Pizhou of East China's Jiangsu province have been named and shamed for constructing illegal buildings in a bid to get more compensation in future demolition projects.
Starting in January this year, the 88 government officials took the lead in setting up unauthorized buliding projects during the personnel change of local government, which brought forth hundreds of copycats among ordinary residents, the Nanjing-based Yangtze Evening Post reported.
Residents followed the example in a bid to earn more compensation from urban development plans, which compensate residents for losses based on the area of their residence. At the height of the construction fever, unauthorized construction covered tens of thousands of square meters, the report said.
More than 900 unauthorized buildings had been constructed in the city and some of them have been demolished following the local government's pledge to stem illegal constructions, the report said.
On May 6, the local government made public the names of the officials who took the lead in the construction drive and ordered all the unauthorized construction to be demolished within one month.
The 88 officials include three officials from the local bureau of land and resources, eight from the public security bureau and 22 from the administration for industry and commerce.
Officials from the justice bureau, the education bureau and the public health bureau are also on the list.
A local government official, who declined to be identified, told China Daily that local supervision department officials are persuading the officials to demolish the constructions before the deadline of June 5 , which some of them are unwilling to do.
In mid-April, the city's leaders including the Party chief and the mayor were reappointed. Some local officials took the opportunity to set up unauthorized construction during this period , as they thought if the buildings were completed before the new leaders took office, they would not be dismantled.
Some of the officials illegally occupied public landscaping areas without relevant permits and others expanded the buildings that were to be removed in order to earn huge compensation when the buildings are demolished, which aroused local residents' dissatisfaction.
"So many people are constructing buildings without permits, so I think I will suffer losses if I don't follow them," said one of the owners of the unauthorized constructions, who refused to be named.
"If the constructions are to be pulled down, the ones belonging to the government officials should be torn down first."
Government officials said the town and village officials are advising the residents to give up the thought of building unauthorized constructions by informing them of regulations on demolition compensations and city planning laws.
The housing and land prices in Pizhou, which ranks at the top in economic growth in north Jiangsu province, have doubled over the past three years.
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