China says more than 18,000 officials failed or performed badly in protecting environment
More than 18,000 Chinese officials failed to take any action or performed badly in protecting the environment since 2016, according to a national crackdown that saw Beijing inspectors visit some of the world’s most polluted cities.
In one case, sewage from 150,000 residents in Jingdezhen in southern Jiangxi province was directly discharged into rivers due to a lack of treatment facilities.
The vast majority of officials caught were local-ranking officials, said Liu Changgen, head of China’s environmental inspection.
“In the next step, we will go through cases found during previous inspections and identify any higher-ranking officials for ill management,” Liu, deputy director at the National Environmental Inspection Office, told reporters on Thursday.
photo credit: vtpoly