12 fired in quake relief inquiry

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-6-24  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

Residents transport their belongings past the rubble of collapsed buildings in the earthquake-hit Beichuan County in Sichuan Province yesterday. More than a month after the May 12 massive quake, officials gave the green light for local residents to return home to search for belongings. More in photo gallery

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CHINA has sacked 12 officials and punished 31 others for misconduct involving relief in earthquake-hit regions, the Minister of Supervision told a press conference in Beijing yesterday.

"Party disciplinary measures and administrative sanctions have been imposed on them," said Ma Wen, who also heads the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention.

The ministry had received 1,178 public complaints about official misdeeds by the end of last week, Ma said.

She said 1,007 cases had been probed and resolved. Most were about improper distribution of tents and food, and the rest about slow or inefficient official responses.

Civil Affairs Vice Minister Jiang Li told the conference the ministry had taken measures to prevent donations being misused.

"We have required those dealing with donations to keep a clear record of all donations," he said. "All those people handling donations and all beneficiaries of donations must register with their real names."

To ensure the transparent administration of donations, the ministry had published information on donation acceptance and distribution on its Website.

Donated funds would first be used to improve people's living conditions, such as in reconstructing homes for those whose houses collapsed in the quake, and to provide subsidies to impoverished people, Jiang added.

By noon yesterday, domestic and foreign donations had reached 52.48 billion yuan (US$7.63 billion) in cash and goods, and 17.91 billion yuan had been sent to the quake-hit areas.

China's top auditor, Liu Jiayi, said yesterday no corruption or misappropriation of quake-relief funds had been found.

"But some work needs to be improved in quake-relief funds and material management," Liu, the National Audit Office auditor-general, told reporters.

For instance, some grassroots governments couldn't exactly evaluate economic losses from the May 12 quake and they had been given more subsidies as the losses they reported were more severe than the exact situation, he said.