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Letters and Blogs
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-24 07:53 Greater Chengguan & good governance Chengguan, or urban management officers, have long been controversial in the public mind. An official from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development confessed that, "it's imperative to set up a city administrative committee under the direct leadership of mayor". The idea was dubbed "greater Chengguan". The official also told reporters that "greater Chengguan" - combining and coordinating various departments of a city - would promote the formation of a scientific system for urban administration. Today, without specific responsibilities and clear affiliation, China's Chengguan is an uncontrolled group mainly responsible for maintaining the city's appearance, environment, hygiene and traffic by cracking down on unlicensed street vendors who are a vulnerable social group. They have become notorious for their violent depriving the street peddlers of their livelihood. The escalated confrontation between Chengguan and the self-employed street vendors not only threatened the latter's survival but also stained the city's image. The way to solve the problem is to first change the administrative mentality from one of coercion and confiscations to civilized law enforcement. Indeed, as the top leader of a city, the mayor should be responsible for urban administration, which means focusing mainly on overall governance policies not on law enforcement campaigns. To maintain a harmonious urban environment, the reportedly new "greater Chengguan" system should put people's fundamental interests first and include more people-oriented policies to facilitate the subsistence and development of the residents of all social classes especially the disadvantaged who deserve sympathy and understanding. Zhang Jingwei http://blog.sina.com.cn 'I have read it' shows arrogance A netizen in Ningbo, Zhejiang province wrote to the chief executive of Yinzhou district to report the traffic problem. After six days of waiting, his mail was finally replied to with a single sentence: "I have read it". The recipient of this mail is not the only one who finds it extremely difficult to lodge a complaint to the government departments. Now, with advanced communication technology, it should not be very difficult to reach the higher authorities. But, reality proves the opposite. The reply to the Ningbo citizen did not include the things there should be, such as whether the problem can be solved or not, why and how. Only replying with "I have read it" equals non-feasance. The non-feasance may derive from institutions, because some complex problems are possibly related to many government departments, and thus hard to be solved by an individual official. But not giving any explanation does not seem to be only due to institutional causes. If the chief executive had attached any importance to the report, he would have at least explained why he could not solve or attend to it. But, he didn't. Why are such people are allowed to work in government? It certainly adds to the impression that latent rules are playing a role. Han Liyong http://blog.tianya.cn (China Daily 08/24/2009 page4) |
