Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

New China Environment Ministry "lacks local powers"
13 Mar 2008 02:58:33 GMT
 Source: Reuters
BEIJING, March 13 (Reuters) - China's new Environment Ministry will not have direct control over grassroots anti-pollution agencies, leaving them in the hands of local officials who are often focused on economic growth, a newspaper said on Thursday.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao this week unveiled a plan to recast central government, promoting the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) to a full ministry in a bid to give it more weight as Beijing struggles to curb pollution.

But Wen's announcement lacked specifics, and a deputy SEPA chief said one important power -- direct control of local environmental officials -- would not be given to the ministry.

"Vertical administration will not be implemented this year, and in the future that will be determined based on actual circumstances," the Beijing News quoted Wu Xiaoqing as saying.

The bureaucratic detail has bigger implications, for it means local governments will keep much control of the budgets and staffing for local watchdogs supposed to inspect their pollution standards and punish polluters.

Rapid industrialisation over the past three decades has battered China's air, water and land, sparking social unrest and dragging on economic growth. SEPA officials have openly lamented that central government directives are ignored by growth-hungry local officials.

But Wu said SEPA's promotion to a full ministry would give it more power, allowing it to developing environmental protection rules without seeking the approval of other bureaucracies focused on economic growth. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  China: World Vision assists remote mountain villages in Yunnan
World Vision - Asia Pacific

•  New funding opportunities for civil society to tackle HIV
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

•  ACT Appeal: Assistance to Snow & Frost Affected, China
ACT - Switzerland

•  Dorcas Aid International Assists Cold Wave Victims In China
Dorcas Aid - Netherlands

•  China: Multi-million dollar China response focuses on power
World Vision - Asia Pacific

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Flu outbreak shuts Hong Kong schools for two weeks

•  RPT-Hong Kong to shut schools to contain flu outbreak

•  UK's Brown calls for stronger sanctions against Sudan

•  FEATURE-Risky business on south Sudan's reckless roads

•  Chinese man burnt alive for "not washing feet"

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
New China Environment Ministry "lacks local powers" (1 minute ago)

Flu outbreak shuts Hong Kong schools for two weeks (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
INTERVIEW-New book puts cost of saving planet at $190 bln (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
China: World Vision assists remote mountain villages in Yunnan (1 minute ago)

Blogs
VIEWPOINT: West's 'dirty work' fuels China's resource spree (1 minute ago)

Maps
MAP: World areas with confirmed human cases of H5N1 avian influenza since 1 January 2008 (1 minute ago)


Country information

Facts & figures
China

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-12T124213Z_01_NIR08_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NIR08.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-12T124059Z_01_NIR09_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NIR09.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-12T123941Z_01_NIR07_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NIR07.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-12T123750Z_01_NIR06_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NIR06.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-03-12T123537Z_01_NIR05_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NIR05.htm

A man walks to wash his clothes in the water of the drought affected lake of Poyang, at the point where it meets the Yangtze River in Hukou, Jiangxi province March ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Thu Mar 13 02:55:47 2008