Society
Ambitious building plan abandoned after funds run out
By Jin Zhu (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-06 07:38
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BEIJING - A "ghost town", which was to be built as a new modern county seat with huge investments, has been abandoned in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region after funds ran out.
 This sequence of photos taken on April 12 shows the unfinished buildings on the hillside in Wangguiyao town of Qingshuihe county. Ren Junchuan / Xinhua |
The empty district, which is as large as 5 square km, is located in Qingshuihe county of the regional capital Hohhot.
As a poverty-stricken county with annual revenue of 30 million yuan ($4.4 million), the county government planned to build the new district with an investment of more than six billion yuan as early as 1998, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.
A number of new office buildings for county government units, including the local bureau of finance, the bureau of taxation, the court, as well as a senior high school, have been completed. Eight other buildings remain unfinished, some half done, and others with only their foundations, the report said.
In an unfinished hotel, local villagers, apparently, already considered it to be an abandoned building and piled livestock feed in the corner. Sparrow nests were also visible everywhere in the building, the report said.
"The construction team left long ago because the government could not support the project with enough money," an unnamed gateman was quoted as saying.
"Some superiors paid for inspection tours in the county in 1998 and suggested that a new district be built. They said the transportation in the county was poor due to mountainous roads, which were inadequate for developing the local economy," said Han Yu, deputy head of Qingshuihe county.
He said the local authority finally decided to build the new district and arranged the construction site in 2002. Official figures show the total planned investment reached 6.1 billion yuan, far beyond the financial means of the county.
Up until now, as much as 100 million yuan has been invested in building the new district. When funds ran out in 2008, the county government discontinued the building plan and no residents have moved into the district, the report said.
Understandably, the abandoned project has led to complaints from some members of the local population.
"Since the government got busy constructing the new district, the reconstruction of the old town has been lagging behind. Even the main roads have now become bumpy," said local resident Wang Jun.
According to Wang, in a poverty-stricken county like Qingshuihe, its limited funds should have been used to improve people's livelihoods.
Scholars have also commented that local government officials should not launch construction projects to enhance their image without sufficient consideration and planning.
Zhou Xiaozheng, a sociology professor at Beijing-based Renmin University of China, said: "Many officials only pay attention to creating a good image for the government. However, without feasible plans, such projects waste both manpower and material resources. What's worse, many officials remain unaware of it."
To avoid repeating the situation elsewhere in the future, he suggested a mechanism be set up that requires officials to think things through carefully, taking all factors into consideration, before making important decisions.
