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SCMP Reporter

Guangdong watchdog moves to ease fears that cadres are siphoning off cash

Guangdong's land watchdog has sought provincial government approval to implement a raft of land requisition rules introducing uniform compensation standards.

The provincial Department of Land and Resources told the Nanfang Daily party newspaper that under the new rules, funds would be paid directly to affected farmers using a 'real-name compensation scheme'.

'Guangdong will try out a real-name payment mechanism, under which most of the land and crop compensation fees, and migration subsidies will be directly [paid] to farmers in person to avoid capital hold-outs in multi-layered allocation,' the department said.

In the past, compensation has been filtered to recipients through various layers of government. Guangdong party chief Zhang Dejiang   criticised that approach in December, saying it had sparked disputes and bred suspicions of corruption.

The new rules would also require project developers to pay into designated compensation accounts before seeking provincial approval to requisition land.

'[The project developer] should also obtain verification documents from farmers' organisations after paying the funds to farmers,' the department said.

The rules also spell out the need for public hearings to discuss compensation standards with farmers unless the farmers opt out, the department said, adding: 'If the farmers give up their hearing [right], a verifying document should be signed by no less than two-thirds of the farmers' representatives.'

It  did not disclose any detailed compensation standards.

The new rules follow the party chief's announcement in December of three 'taboos' in land requisition to avoid  disputes.

Mr Zhang said projects could not start without completed documentation and construction could not go ahead without a democratic consensus on compensation from farmers. He also said work could not begin until farmers had been paid compensation in full.

Some  analysts say the issue of  compensation is likely to be discussed among deputies when they meet for the annual session of the Guangdong People's Congress starting tomorrow.

Guangzhou media reported yesterday that congress chairwoman Huang Liman  had said the  standing committee would focus on resolving back-pay problems this year. 'We will make it a priority to examine the implementation of the regulation of back wages and establish an arbitration mechanism to settle wage disputes to relieve the back-payment problems,' Ms Huang said.

She was also quoted as saying the committee would examine laws on protecting handicapped people's rights, occupational disease prevention and treatment,  and  regulations on protecting investments by Taiwanese.



Proposal to pay farmers directly for seized land