OpinionPublic interest hearings leave out the people, prompting growing mistrust

The clamour surrounding an upcoming hearing on fare adjustments for Nanjing's subway has put the system of public consultations into the spotlight.

Introduced in the mid-1990s, the hearings were meant to give the public some say in decisions regarding their livelihoods, especially water and electricity charges and public transport fares. But, to most people, these have become simply "meetings to raise prices" because community representatives nearly always vote in favour of authorities' proposals to do so.

The Nanjing subway fares hearing, to be held in the middle of next month, grabbed headlines after the municipal pricing bureau announced that people who voluntarily applied to attend the hearings would only be entitled to sit in on the sessions but not voice their thoughts.

Nanjing officials said nine of the 21 attendees would be representatives chosen by the local consumers' association. The remaining individual attendees could send their opinions in writing to the authority, the local government mouthpiece Nanjing Daily reported.

Citing national regulations on price adjustments by authorities, the Nanjing pricing bureau said the consumer representatives could either be chosen at random from the people applying on their own accord to join the hearings, or who had been recommended by the consumers' association. It also promised to name all attendees 15 days before the hearing.

The public, however, appeared unmoved, claiming the consumers' association had little to do with the public, and that most people had never been involved with the organisation. People also ask why the government prefers representatives recommended by the consumer association, instead of choosing people who sign up individually.

The Nanjing hearing is one of scores of such meetings across the mainland that operate in an opaque manner, keeping secret such details such as costs or their procedures for adjusting prices.