Guangdong 'poor' on pollution information

1-MIN READ1-MIN

Published: 12:00am, 13 Dec 2007

Guangdong has done a poor job in allowing the public greater access to information about industrial polluters that are contaminating the air and waterways in the province, a mainland green campaigner said.

Ma Jun, head of the non-government Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, made the remarks yesterday at a forum introducing a database which will focus on the mainland's air pollution problems.

'While some regions have made public a lot of information identifying industrial sources of air pollution, we have seen very little official information from Guangdong in the past three years,' he said.

Despite talks of greater transparency and pollution problems, local authorities remain reluctant to name the enterprises responsible for contaminating the air and water of the Pearl River Delta, he said.

'A report by a city government in the province said a total of 1,200 enterprises in six sectors have caused serious pollution but it did not even name a single factory.'

Based on central and local government statistics and media reports, the Web-based database, entitled China Air Pollution Map (http://air.ipe.org.cn), covers 14 southern and eastern provinces and municipalities, and Hong Kong. Mr Ma said the database started with southern provinces because their air pollution was lighter than northern regions.