Red faces over copycat green report on China dredging project
- Oceanology institute apologises after part of one assessment is cut and pasted into another for Shenzhen Bay channel
- Shenzhen’s transport bureau orders a new investigation, this time including impact on mangroves and migratory birds
A research institute linked to China’s top scientific body has apologised for “copying and pasting” an environmental impact assessment in a report on a controversial dredging project in the country’s south.
The South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, admitted on its website on Sunday that parts of another report had been “used as a model” for the Shenzhen Bay assessment, resulting in multiple references to Zhanjiang, a city about 500km (310 miles) from Shenzhen.
The institute said it would investigate the matter and take remedial action.
The environmental assessment, published on the website of the Shenzhen government on March 3, related to plans to dredge a 9.2km channel from Shekou Cruise Centre to the ferry port at Shenzhen Talent Park.
The channel, estimated to cost 110 million yuan (US$15.5 million), would be 120 metres wide and 3.1 metres deep, and enable the expansion of scenic cruises in the area.
Shenzhen’s transport bureau had said the channel would allow cruise operators to offer trips to the east side of the Shenzhen Bay Bridge, including the talent park and the Mangrove Ecological Park.