Environmental chief says cadres guilty of lax enforcement will not be promoted
Local officials who fail to curb and control worsening pollution will be punished or lose promotion opportunities, the mainland's top environmental official has warned.
The pledge by Zhou Shengxian, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (Sepa), came as the nation's top legislature admitted poor law enforcement should be blamed for the worsening environment.
The National People's Congress has unveiled an annual campaign to examine enforcement of 'green' laws at local level, which, together with Mr Zhou's remarks, have come to the aid of local environmental watchdogs.
'Leading officials who pay little attention to halting pollution and fail to meet the environmental targets must not be promoted,' Mr Zhou was quoted as saying yesterday by the People's Daily. 'Cadres who dare to ignore environmental laws must pay the price.'
The top green watchdog says 163 officials from 12 provinces and municipalities, including seven government heads, have been punished for their involvement in pollution accidents and other cases violating environmental laws. But the report did not state specific punishments for the officials or say if any officials had been transferred to judicial authorities.
Sepa said last week it had received 49 reports of environmental accidents since January. Official statistics show there were more than 50,000 disputes over environmental pollution last year.
