Shandong company probed over substandard cement

Police in Zaozhuang, Shandong province, are looking into allegations a local company produced and sold substandard cement to a school in Henan province for the building of student dormitories.

The city's Taierzhuang district government held a news conference Sunday morning to announce local police had detained two suspects at Zaozhuang Pengyuan Building Materials Co.

Cement samples collected from the Zhicheng Experiemntal School in Henan's Luyi county were sent to examiners in Shandong and Jiangsu provinces, and both said the samples were of inferior quality.

The district's market regulator said the school purchased 25 of a total 200 metric tons of problematic cement. Investigations traced 150 metric tons through sales records so far.

The inquiry came after the public was outraged by recent media reports claiming the cement used for the student dormitory in March could easily be crumbled by hand.

School authorities said it has more than 900 boarding students, mostly left-behind children whose parents work in big cities for better salaries.

The school then lodged complaints to Shandong regulators, which fined the company but failed to trace other problematic cement, or give explanations as to why such cement was approved in the first place.

The district government said it has urged the company to negotiate compensation with the school.

It will seriously investigate the company, as well as the market regulator for any possible dereliction of duty. The authority will also establish a credit system and long-term supervision to ensure the quality of cement and other building materials.