The Ministry of Railways, which is still reeling from the recent sacking of its chief, is cracking down on internal corruption linked to tenders for lucrative construction projects.
The campaign will focus on loopholes in the problematic bidding system, poor quality control and fishy financial management of railway building, much of which is believed to be linked to kickbacks and corruption, the Nanfang Daily yesterday quoted deputy Minister of Railways Lu Chunfang as telling a recent internal meeting. Lu said a tough line must be taken against irregularities in the bidding for railway construction projects, calling the problems 'prominent and severe'.
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have recently called for a campaign to clean up railway and other sectors involving construction. They pointed out serious issues, in internal meetings, related to tenders for big construction projects, the Guangzhou-based newspaper said.
'There exist prominent problems in the bidding for construction projects,' Wen told a State Council anti-graft meeting on March 25.
Lu said collusion among officials, bidders and their middlemen during the bidding process had become commonplace. Industry insiders say uncovering hidden practices is tricky; state-owned enterprises do not give kickbacks directly, but instead subcontract the deals to private companies, which then pay kickbacks to the middlemen.
Lu said the process had resulted in substandard construction and caused frequent accidents.