Experience fails to build order on sites

MORE than a decade of booming construction has failed to bring order to Shenzhen's building sites, a report by a semi-official news agency revealed yesterday.

If the problem was not workmen accidentally damaging telecommunications cables, including those for the military and vital services such as airports, then it was citizens and labourers making off with government property at will, the Hong Kong China News Agency said.

It said a construction team accidentally cut off more than 1,000 confidential digital cables on March 13, resulting in a two-day suspension of foreign exchange trading in Shenzhen.

The loss of the cables also led to a communication breakdown among banks, securities houses and military units in China's model Special Economic Zone.

The accident was by no means an isolated incident, according to the agency.

Another team of construction workers dug up all 7,000 optical-fibre cables buried under a flyover in Shennan Boulevard in April.

The episode caused the Shenzhen international airport to lose its special telephone services, and more than 100,000 telephone users in Bao'an and Nantou districts were also affected.

But the agency's report did not say whether the loss of telephone services at the airport caused any accidents or management problems.

Similar incidents continued throughout April and May.

When a submarine long-distance optical cable was drilled through by a construction team last month, 80,000 telephone users in Longguang district lost their service.

The frequency of these incidents also affected other cities in China, since many rely on the Shenzhen SEZ for connection with foreign cities.

Unofficial estimates were that more than 30 such incidents had happened this year, resulting in millions of yuan in state financial losses, the news agency reported.

''In addition [to these incidents], looting by both organised groups and individuals happened frequently,'' it said.